Finding Family
by argwyn2365
Summary: She was used to being alone, in fact she preferred it that way. It was quieter when no one else was around. She had been alone for eight years before someone came to her little planet, Ganzetpeer. "Kathryn? Kathryn Riker?" I stop and turn to the voice confused. No one had ever came here before. "Who are you?" I ask. "Wesley. Wesley Crusher. I am here to rescue you."
1. Chapter 1

"Katharyn? Katharyn Riker?" I freeze where I am crouched. I was gathering roots for my dinner. I slowly turn to look at the person who called my name. This is new. There hasn't been anyone here except me in years. I don't know how many years. I lost count after my first few winters alone. My family and everyone else died from some illness when I was eight years old.

The stranger who called me was tall, fair skinned, with brown hair and eyes. His voice seemed familiar to me but I don't recall meeting someone like him before. He started coming towards me slowly. As he took a step closer, I took a step away, slowly making my way behind the tree I was by. My plan was to get behind it and climb up and away from this stranger. Hopefully he won't follow me.

"Are you Katharyn Riker? You used to go by Katylinn. It's ok. I won't hurt you. I am here to help you." I listen to his words. I haven't talked to anyone in a while. Can I even remember how speech works? I decide to give it a try.

"Wh…who a…are you?" I stutter out.

"My name is Wesley Crusher." He tells me. "I was sent here to rescue you." I tilt my head slightly to the side. Rescue me? How can anyone know about me? "Don't worry. You sent me to rescue you. That is how I knew where to go. I am from your future. It will all be explained in time." He finally reaches me and touches my arm. I stiffen up, surprised that I had allowed him to get close to me. What will he do now that he has a hand on me? Can I trust him? Is he telling me the truth? _Trust me. I have no reason to hurt you. You are important to me._ I relax slightly in his grasp. I heard what he said. I didn't know there were others that could talk mind to mind. The last time I had heard anyone's thoughts or feelings was before everyone else died. Something about Wesley made me believe I could trust him but I wasn't going to let my guard down completely yet.

 _Ok. Help me finish collecting these roots for dinner. We will then go back to the village and you can tell me about yourself and why you were sent._

 _I can't tell you everything, Katharyn, but I will tell you what I can._ We spend a little while collecting the roots for dinner. I watch him out of the corner of my eye. He is quiet, well at least I assume he is. He doesn't say anything else to me. We are both on our knees at the base of the tree digging up the roots. These are my favorite ones. They have a nutty, slightly sweet taste to them. They make a great soup. I have about ten of them which will be enough for me but we need more if he is going to be eating with me.

Lost in my own thoughts and the movements required for digging, I failed to notice that Wesley had taken off his jacket. All he had underneath was a short sleeved shirt that showed his muscles as he dug up the roots. He stops digging and looks up at me. He smiles. _Like what you see, Kat?_ Crap. He noticed me looking. I feel my face heat up. _Um…I…uh…sorry._ I think to him. I look back to my roots and go back to digging them up. I hear a soft chuckle from his direction as he turns back to his work as well.

After a little while longer I look over and notice we have plenty of roots for dinner and might have some left over. "I think that will be enough." I say to him as I stand up. Brushing off my knees and hands I stand up and stretch, "Let's go back so I can prepare these." I pick up the basket with the roots in them and start walking.

"How far is it?" Wesley asks me.

"Not far. I don't know the actual distance. I just know it doesn't take me long to walk it." I tell him. We walk in silence until we make it to the hut I stay in. It's not much, but it's all I've got. It is one of the remaining huts from when everyone was still alive. I have been able to keep it standing and in good condition. I have had to learn to fend for myself. It wasn't that hard to do since I was able to find books on anything and everything from making cooking ware to clothes to repairs. I even found the school books the children had used. With what I had learned up until I was eight, I was able to teach myself so much more. I pull aside the door covering, "Please, come in." He walks in and I follow. I am finding that talking out loud is getting easier, my voice isn't so rough sounding now. I walk over to the fireplace and put the roots down in front of the hearth. I walk out around back to gather firewood. Hmm I wonder. I think to myself. _Wesley, could you come outback and help me carry this wood in?_ I don't know if it will work since I am not in the same room as him but I don't feel like making several trips to take the wood I will need inside.

" _Sure."_ Comes his reply. A few seconds later he walks around the corner. "How many logs do you need?"

"Enough to last the night. It will be dark soon." I reply. We gather the logs into our arms and walk back inside. Setting the logs down I kneel down so I can start the fire. Wesley walks back outside and grabs so more logs. By time he returns, I have the logs set up and am getting ready to start the fire. He grabs something from his belt and gets the fire started for me.

"I could have done that myself."

"I'm sure you can but this was quicker." I look at him wondering if I should stand my ground and show that I am capable of taking care of myself or if I should just be grateful that I didn't have to spend the time and effort starting the fire with the rocks I have. I decide on the latter.

"You're right. It is quicker than my way. Thanks." I grab the pot over the fire and take it to fill with water. Walking back in I place it back on the hook and put it over the flames so the water can heat up. Grabbing the basket with the roots, I then walk back outside to the water so I can clean the dirt off of them. I'm sitting there cleaning the dirt off of the roots when Wesley walks outside. I had been hoping to do this part alone. He has been by my side since he got here and it was starting to make me feel uncomfortable. I am not used to being around people. I don't know him or anything. Is he really here to rescue me? I don't like feeling like I'm not in control of what I do and having him here makes me feel out of control. I don't know what to expect.

"Can I help?" he asks.

"No, I can usually do this part myself. I have been doing things by myself for a long time." I tell him.

"I understand but you don't have to anymore. Trust me. Let me help you." He grabs my hands that are in the water. As quickly as he put his hands on mine in the water, he pulls them out. "Woah, that water is freezing! How can you stand that?" I shrug and continue washing the roots.

"I guess I am used to it. I don't feel the cold anymore." He grabs my hands out of the water causing me to drop the root into the bucket.

"Give me your hands."

"NO!" I yell jerking my hands out of his. "The water doesn't bother me." He grabs my hands again with a tighter grip. I try to tug them out of his grasp. "Stop Wesley! I need to finish this so I can cook the roots or I won't be eating tonight."

 _Kat look at me._ I stop and look at him. _I need you trust me. You shouldn't be able to stand this frigid water. It's too cold. Do you even feel that it is getting colder as its getting dark?_ I notice that he has already put his jacket back on. I don't usually notice the temperature change until I am inside for the night. _Let me help you finish this. We will go in and get these cooking. After dinner I have some things I brought with me that I want to show you. I also have some clothes for you. When we leave you don't need to be in these rags. Please let me help._ He begs.

 _Fine. You want to help. Then finish cleaning those off. I am going inside to chop up the herbs I have to go with them. When you're done they need to be chopped up into smaller pieces._ I take my hands out of his, stand up and walk inside my hut. _Hope your hands don't freeze._ I toss at him as I disappear inside. Who does he think he is, swooping in here like I am a damsel in distress. Do I look like I need saving? Do I look like one of those princesses in one of those old Earth fairy tales? No, I am not. I was doing just fine on my own. I don't need anyone, thank you very much. I start chopping up a few of the herbs I have that I want to put with the roots. I believe it is called Sage. I haven't looked in the herb book in a bit. I am enjoying the chopping so much that I don't realize Wesley has returned.

"What did those herbs ever do to you?" I stop and glare at him. I know I was chopping a little too hard but I was angry at him.

"Nothing," I reply. "But you have." I return to my chopping.

"What did I do to you?" he asks. I don't answer him at first. Instead I continue chopping the herbs.

"What did you do? You show up telling me you are here to rescue me. I don't need rescuing. I am doing just fine on my own." I yell at him. Suddenly I feel a sharp pain in my thumb. Looking down I see red. "See what you have made me do? I haven't cut myself in a long time. It's all your fault. You distracted me, made me mad."

"Here let me see it." He says to me.

"No, I will be fine. It's just a cut."

"Are you sure? You don't look fine. You're starting to look a little pale."

"I am fi.." I start to say as the room tilts dangerously. I feel myself start to fall and hear one last thought before I am enveloped in darkness.

 _Damnit Kat!_


	2. Chapter 1a

**Thanks for the follows to the story. This is my attempt at the NaNoWriMo, so there will probably be updates almost daily. I don't own Wesley Crusher but Katharyn Riker and even the planet Ganztpeer belong to my mother and I. She started her novel and I am just writing my own version to hers. Maybe sometime I can upload hers too it just has to be typed in unless she can find her files for me to copy and paste. She has already given me permission. Hers isn't finished yet but one day it will be.**

 **Set course to reading next chapter.**

 **Course set.**

 **Engage.**

The first thing I am aware of is the smell of the soup over the fire, it would be done soon. I open my eyes and notice that it is dark now. The only light in the hut is from the fire. I see a silhouette in front of the fire. I start to panic before I remember that I had a visitor. I slowly get up and cross over to Wesley. He doesn't move when I approach. Either he doesn't hear me or trusts me enough to not worry about my movements.

"How long was I out?" I ask him. I felt slightly embarrassed. I had cut my finger while chopping the herbs for our dinner. The sight of my own blood caused me to pass out.

"About 45 minutes." Wesley replies to me. He looks up to me, "I see your color is back. That's good. You were very pale. Has that ever happened before?"

"No it has not. I don't usually get hurt like that." I say to him. He reaches towards me and grabs the hand that had the cut finger. He looks at it.

"That looks better." He then kisses my finger over the cut. "There. All better." He smiles at me and then gestures for me to sit in front of him by the fire. There is something about his smile that makes me feel safe and even loved. I need to learn more about him. I sit down in front of him with my legs crossed so I can lean over and rest my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands. He is sitting on my only stool so I am on the floor and he is just above my height. Wesley puts his hands on my shoulders and pulls me slightly closer to him. He starts rubbing my shoulders and I feel myself relax. I have never felt this before. I feel calmer and feel ready to take on anything.

"Mmm…that feels amazing." He chuckles.

"Not the first time I heard you say that." That got me thinking about how he knows me. Where do I fit in where he is concerned?

"Wesley? How do you know me? How did you know I needed to be rescued? I've never met you but you seem to have met me."

"I can't tell you much but I do know what I can say." He stops rubbing my shoulders and leans past me to stir the soup. When he is done he sits back and pulls me back to him. I am sitting between his knees with my back up against the stool. He wraps his arms around my shoulders and rests his chin on the top of my head. "I know a future version of you. We are very close. You told me it was time to go into the past to rescue you. You also told me what I could tell you. See, you have to know what you need to tell me, but I have to tell you first. Make sense?"

"I think so." I am not sure if I completely understand but I am sure when the time comes I will. "So when we leave here, where will we be going?"

"I will take you to Earth to enroll at Starfleet Academy. That is where I am, well past me anyway. It's what happened in my timeline so I have to make sure we keep to it. The Academy is fun. It prepares you to work on a starship, to do whatever you want. You father is first officer on a Galaxy class starship and your mother is a Counselor."

"Wait, my parents died when I was little." I said to him.

"Yes. A version of them did but you were never supposed to be in the timeline you are in now. You were supposed to be born in the other time line. Someone else was supposed to be here but he was born in that one instead."

"So I still have parents?"

"Yes. And you will get to meet them but you have to make sure they understand that they cannot try to find you before I did. You have to keep to the timeline at all costs."

"I understand. So how close are we?"

"I can't tell you exactly. But you trust me with your life." I sit with him in front of the fire thinking about what he said. Would it be beneficial to meet my parents when they can't be the ones to save me? Would I want to meet them? The answer to these questions is yes, I would love to meet them. I take a deep breath and turn in Wesley's arms so I can look at him. I look into his eyes so I can maybe see what he isn't telling me. I search his thoughts and find nothing other than what he has told me. He's good. _Did you find what you were looking for, Kat?_

 _No._ I cross my arms. _Why do you call me Kat?_

 _Well it's short for Katharyn. I have called you Kat for many years. I also have a few other nicknames for you but you will have to wait to learn those. Anyway, I think our dinner is ready._ He gets up and pulls the pot away from the fire. I stand up and grab a bowl.

"Um…sorry I only have one bowl."

"It's ok. You eat first and I will eat after you." I fill my bowl up and sit back down in front of the fire to eat. We sit in silence as I eat, the only sound coming from my spoon scraping on the bowl. When I am finished, I get up and put some more in the bowl. I then hand the bowl and spoon to Wesley so he can eat. Instead of sitting back down I grab two cups and go outside to fill them with water. As I walk outside the cold hits me. I never realize how cold it is until I have been inside. I look up and see the stars. I love looking at them. During the warmer months I would sit outside and just stare at the stars sometimes falling asleep. I wonder which ones I will go to once I am no longer on this planet? _Kat? Are you ok? Where did you go?_ I hear Wesley ask.

 _I am fine. I stepped outside to get us both cups of water but I got distracted by the stars._ I feel him come up behind me. He puts his arms around me and pulls me close. I relax into him and enjoy his warmth. It amazes me how well we fit together.

 _I get distracted by the stars as well. There are evenings that we just sit outside and look up, sometimes cuddled under a blanket, always together._ I can feel his breath by my ear. It sends shivers through my body. I have never felt anything like this before. I can also feel the connection we have/will have. I lean slightly to the side so I can peer up at him but not turn completely. I look into his brown eyes. The world around us seems to dissolve and I see him lick his lips. I wonder if he is going to kiss me. Do I want him to kiss me? Before I can think on it too much he leans down and kisses me. I feel a little spark between us, almost like electricity. I see stars, literally. Star systems, nebulas, even planets. It's as if his kiss is taking me on a journey through space, even though I can still feel the ground beneath my feet. The kiss seems to awaken something in me and I want to deepen the kiss, feel more. And then I come back planet side. Wait, is this like cheating on my future self? I pull back and leave the warmth of his arms.

 _What is it?_ He asks me.

 _We can't do this._

 _Why?_

 _Isn't it cheating? You're married in your future._ I stop. Should I let him know that I now know exactly who I am to him? _You're married to me. I'm not going to get jealous of myself or anything, am I?_ He chuckles.

 _Kat, this isn't exactly cheating. And how did you figure out it is you I am married too?_

 _Um…. I'm not exactly sure how I know. I just do. Is it important how?_

 _No it's not. That just means you have always know where we were going, so make sure you don't mention this to me when we get you to the Academy._

 _I won't. Let's go inside. I am getting tired. We can leave tomorrow._ We head back inside hand in hand. The things he wanted to show me tonight forgotten.

"I only have one bed." I tell him. I enjoy his company and his kiss but I am not sure I am ready to share a bed with him.

"It's ok. I can sleep on the floor. It won't be the first time." He takes off his jacket and rolls it up to put under his head.

 _Goodnight Kat._

 _Goodnight Wesley, sweet dreams._

 _Always._

 ** _Thanks. Read and Review please._**


	3. Chapter 1b

**This chapter concludes the actual stories first chapter. Hope everyone is liking the story so far. I am enjoying writing it.**

Begin Memory/Dream

 _Running out of the house to find help, I see a man walking towards the village. I run up to him with tears streaming down my face. As I approach him, he bends down to my level. I am only six years old. "What's wrong?" He asks me._

 _"_ _Please help my mommy and daddy," I cry. "Please get them help." I grab his hand and tug with all the strength my small body has. He finally stands and lets me lead him to my home. When I grabbed his hand I felt something, but I ignore it thinking it's just his own feelings. I pull him through the door way into the dark room and run over to the bed to stand by my parents. My father turns his head to the man I brought and reaches out to him. The man walks over, sits on the chair by the bed and takes my father's hand in his._

 _"_ _Please take care of Katylinn." He says hoarsely before slipping into unconsciousness._

 _"_ _Daddy!" I yell as I try to scramble across the man's lap to get to my father._

 _The man stops me and sits me back on the floor, "Go find a Doctor. I will stay here with them. Now, go!" I turn and run out the door calling for the Doctor as I go._

 _"_ _Doctor! Doctor, I need you!" I finally reach the Doctor._

 _"_ _Katylinn, what is it?" He asks_

 _I sniffle, "My mommy and daddy. They won't wake up." I tell him._

 _"_ _Let's go." He replies to me as we start walking back to my home. We walk back through the blanket and I step off to the side out of the way. I glance at the strange man and then to my parent's still form._

 _"_ _Take the child outside please." The Doctor asks the man._

 _I feel a light touch on my shoulder as the man guides me outside. I lean against the wall and start drawing pictures in the dirt with my toe. I could also watch this strange man through the curtain my hair was making around my face. He was watching me. I could hear his thoughts. He was watching me and noticed how long, dark and curly my hair is. It reminded him of someone named Deanna. Her hair is long, dark and curly like mine. I faintly recognized the name Deanna. I had seen it before. Puzzled I looked up at the man to see if I could figure out who he was. I couldn't figure much more out so I looked back down._

 _"_ _Katylinn, how long have your parents been sick?" he asks me softly._

 _"_ _Always." I mumble, not looking up at him._

 _"_ _What do you mean, always?"_

 _I look up at him, "For as long as I can remember." I didn't want to talk about them anymore. I didn't want to answer any more questions so I crossed my arms over my chest and turned my back on this confusing man. I leaned my shoulder on the wall and went back to drawing circles in the dirt with my foot but still 'listening' to his thoughts. I hear another one about this Deanna. I reminded him of her when she would get mad at him and didn't want to talk anymore. I glance over my shoulder and look at him, he didn't even see me. I go back to my dirt. I notice he walks away and comes back with a bench. He places it by the door and sits down._

 _I start to inch towards him. I make my way around his legs. I wonder where he is from? I hope he doesn't see me inching around him, he looks like he is asleep. He is taller than the other men around here and he has hair on his face that matched the hair on his head. No one in the village has hair on their face._

 _I climb up on the bench and dangle my feet, kicking them back and forth. When will the Doctor be done? I want to see my mommy and daddy. As I sat waiting, I was slowly moving toward the man. After a few minutes the man shifts and it causes me to jump. I move away from him a little and continue swinging my legs. After several minutes I start to move to him again. I finally get close enough to him that my shoulder touches his arm._

 _"_ _What's your name?" I ask him._

 _He jumps when I speak. Opening his eyes and looking down at me he replies, "My name is William, but my friends call me Will."_

 _I sit there thinking for a while. Would he let me call him Will? Why does that name sound familiar? "Can I call you Will?" I finally ask him._

 _"_ _Are you my friend?" He asks me._

 _I think for a moment, searching the feelings I could feel from him. He considers me a friend. Slowly I nod my head._

 _He smiles at me, "Of course you can, all my friends do." I returned his smile and decided to scoot close enough to him to lay my head against him._

 _I sat watching him, wondering more about him. I knew his name now but where is he from? And the hair on his face, is it soft? I decided I would ask him. I kneeled beside him so my head was almost level with his shoulder and I could see his face better. "Is it soft?" I ask pointing to his chin._

 _He reaches up and runs his hand over the hair. Tilting his head towards me he replies, "I don't know. Why don't you see for yourself?"_

 _I slowly reach out my hand. Touching it with only my fingertips. Then I run my hand up the side of his face as I had seen him do. As I brought my hand back to his chin he asks, "Well, is it?"_

 _I smile, "Yes, it is."_

 _I look past him when I see the curtain move. The Doctor steps out and before he says anything, I know. My smile leaves my face as I scream inwardly. NO!_

 _"_ _I am sorry Katylinn. I did all I could; there was nothing else we could have done. You know that. I am sorry child, they're both gone."_

 _I jump down and run into the house. Tears start running down my face as I kneel beside the bed. I lay grab my father's hand and lay my head down. I can't believe this. I have lost my parents. Well my second set. The first set died when I was a year old. I have no one left to take care of me now._

 _I feel Will enter the house. When he reaches me he puts a hand on my back. I turn to him and throw myself at him. He catches me, holds me to him and stands up. I notice we go back outside and he sits down on the bench and settles me on his lap with his arms around me. I just sit there safe in his lap crying about the loss my parents. It isn't fair. Between his warmth and the soothing circles he was rubbing on my back I felt safe enough to fall asleep in his arms. I saw pictures from Will, what he was thinking. I could see a pretty lady in his mind. She has dark brown eyes, dark brown curly hair like mine. He was imagining her holding me in her arms, comforting me. I started to feel cold and shivered. I tried to snuggle closer to him, using his body heat to warm myself._

 _I felt Will stand up. After a minute, I felt him lay me down on the bed. I started to panic. I don't want him to let go of me so I wrap my arms around his neck. "Let me check the fire Little One and I will be right back." He covers me with his coat. I snuggle under it in a tiny ball enjoying the warmth it held._

 _I felt him return to the bed. He scooped me up and put me in his lap so I could sleep._

 _I woke up feeling rested. I look up at Will and wonder who the pretty lady in his dreams really is. He notices that I am awake and smiles down at me._

 _"_ _Morning, how did you sleep?"_

 _I snuggled close to him, "Warm and safe."_

 _"_ _That's good," he replies hugging me._

 _I reach up and start playing with his beard. "Who is the pretty lady in your dreams?" I ask him._

 _"_ _Pretty lady?"_

 _"_ _Yeah," I say sitting up. "She has pretty long, dark hair and eyes. You called her," I stop and try to remember the word, figuring out how to say it. "You called her Imzadi."_

 _Will sits up quickly. Did I say or do something wrong? I see the questioning look in his eyes. He is wondering how I could know that. I decide to close the distance he created when he sat up. I didn't want him to be mad at me. He reaches out to me and pulls me into his lap._

 _"_ _How do you know about her?" He asks me._

 _I hesitate and look down to my hands in my lap. "Mommy says I am not supposed to tell anyone." I whisper._

 _"_ _I won't tell anyone." He says, taking my small hands in his._

 _I exhale, "Sometimes I can feel what others feel. And when I touch someone I can sometimes see pictures in their head. When mommy would hold me at night and we fell asleep, I could see her dreams when she had them. Last night I could see yours. She seemed so warm and nice I wondered who she was."_

 _"_ _She is nice and warm. She is also very special to me."_

 _"_ _What's her name? Am I special too?"_

 _He touches my chin and lifts my head to look at him, "Her name is Deanna. And yes, you are special to me too. In fact, your hair is very much like hers. You are just as pretty as she is." He pulls me close and hugs me. He holds me like this for several minutes. I let him. I can tell he needs this just as much as I do._

 _After several minutes he pulls me away just enough so he can look at me, "Let's see about something to eat, shall we?"_

 _I nod and jump off his lap and the bed. "I'll fix something, if you want." He seems hesitant to agree and goes to his pack. He pulls out several things and shows them to me._

 _"_ _Pick us something from these items, ok?" I quickly look through the items and pick a few things. We have a very interesting breakfast._

 _After we finished eating we went to look for the Doctor. We finally see him coming out of one of the houses._

 _"_ _Good morning. How are you, Katylinn?" He asks me._

 _"_ _I am fine." I reply._

 _He then addresses Will, "I assume you want to talk to me?"_

 _"_ _Yes sir." Will says. "Do you have some time to answer a few questions?"_

 _"_ _Sure. By the way, my name is Dr. Escombe." He motions for Will to follow him. He looks down to me, "Katylinn, why don't you go play while we talk?"_

 _I wasn't sure. I knew that Will would need to go back to his home in the stars but I didn't want him to leave without telling me bye. "You won't leave without saying goodbye will you?" I ask Will._

 _"_ _I promise. I won't leave without telling you." Convinced he is telling me the truth, I turn and go back to my house._

 _When I got back to the house, I gathered all of Will's things together. I knew he would be leaving as soon as he was finished talking to the Doctor. After I was done, I put on his jacket and walked outside to sit on the bench with his pack and wait on him._

 _I looked up and saw him walking towards me. When he got to me I stood up on the bench, "You are leaving, aren't you? You are going back to that place in the stars, where Deanna is waiting for you. Will you ever come back to see me?" I threw myself at him and wrapped my arms around his neck. I started to cry. I knew his answer before he even gave it. He was leaving me._

 _"_ _I am sorry Little One, I have to go. I wish I didn't," he said squeezing me tightly to him. He bends down and places my feet on the ground. He picks up his pack, kisses me on top of my head and stands up. He turns and leaves, never looking back._

 _I run inside and throw myself onto the bed. I curl up under his jacket and cry. It's not fair, why does everyone leave me?_

 _After spending some time crying I remember something, there was a box under the bed with things in it. I had found it once and mommy told me she would show it to me when I was older, but she never got the chance to. In the box was a letter, a few pictures and other items. I picked up the letter and read it._

 _Katylinn,_

 _If you have this, it means that your father and I have died from the illness. There is something you must know. I was hoping to be able to tell you myself. Though your father and I raised you, we are not your birth parents. They died just after your first birthday. It was their wish that we raise you as our own. We gratefully fulfilled their wishes. We have asked to be buried next to them so that you may know both sets of parents. Always remember that we all loved you very much._

 _Mommy_

 _It took me awhile to read the letter but I understood it. I ran to find one of the older girls and showed her the letter. After she read it she took me to their graves. There I saw the names I thought I would find. William Riker and Deanna Riker. I am Katharyn Riker._

End Dream/Flashback

I suddenly wake up. "He never came back. He never came back to rescue me." For the first time in years I cry.

Wesley must have heard me crying. I feel the bed dip as he lays down next to me. He pulls me to him so I am nestled against his front, his arms are around me making me feel safe. "Shush, shush." He says soothingly in my ear.

"He never came back for me, Wesley."

"I know. He couldn't. You told him he couldn't come after you. He had to keep to the timeline. He was so upset when he got back to the Enterprise. You and him fought for hours because he wanted to go back but you wouldn't let him." I calmed down knowing that he wanted to come back but couldn't. I don't know how, but I understood the importance of keeping the timelines intact.

I fell back to sleep with him holding me. I don't know how long we slept but I hear his voice as he wakes me up. "Kat. Come on. Time to get up so we can go." I get up. "I've put some clothes over there that should fit you _._ When you are dressed, we will leave. He walks outside to give me some privacy so I can change.

After I am changed I walk outside. I have a box under one arm and a faded jacket around my shoulders. These things were all I had of my parents, but I knew I would be seeing them again soon. "I am ready." I say to Wesley. He wraps his arms tightly around me and we leave the planet behind in a flash of golden light.

 **Please review. It makes me happy to know what yall think.**


	4. Chapter 2

**Hello again. I am up to 7,279 words for November. This is the start of Chapter 2 of the Novel. This section is from Wesley's point of view. Thanks for reading. Enjoy!**

I wrap my arms around Katharyn as I call upon the time vortex to transport us to the past along the correct timeline. I can feel Katharyn start to panic as we leave the ground. " _It will be ok, Kat. Just relax and hold on to me."_

 _"_ _Relax?! I don't know where we are. Where the ground went or where we are going. I can't sense anything other than you."_

 _"_ _Katharyn! Relax or I will drop you."_

 _"_ _You wouldn't." She thinks back._

 _I chuckle, "You are right, Kat. I wouldn't."_ I continue holding her as I direct our energy where I want us to go. First stop, Tau Alpha-C. Katharyn will need documents and direction before we head to the Starfleet Academy.

I see the planet solidify around us as the golden light fades. I look around to make sure we had made it to the right place. Travel this way can be tricky sometimes. I see the Blue/Green sky above us and can feel the soft orange grass below our feet. I look down at Katharyn to see how she faired the trip. She looks up to me and I search her brilliant crystal blue eyes. I have always loved her eyes and could get lost in them so easily. " _How do you feel?"_ I ask her mentally.

 _"_ _Fine. I think. I fell slightly disoriented."_

I laugh. "That can happen the first few times. You will get used to it."

I slowly let her go, making sure she has her balance.

"Wesley! It's good to see you have returned. And you found Katharyn. Great."

"Katharyn, meet the Traveler." I introduce them.

"Nice to meet you." She says as she shakes his hand.

"Pleasure is mine. Now we don't have much time. Your future self will be returning soon and it is imperative that you don't see yourself. Please keep that in mind as you go on your journey." The Traveler places his hand on her shoulder and leads her towards a small building. She looks to me, hesitant to trust him.

"It's ok, Kat. You can trust him. You have met him before." I could see that she was searching her mind to find the memory of her meeting him before. I knew when she found it and I saw it as she remembered it.

Flashback

 _I was looking at four graves. Two were old and two were fresh. All four held my parents. I read the names on the stones. William T. Riker August 19, 2335- February 3, 2366. Deanna Troi Riker March 29, 2336-Febuary 3, 2366. Sara Elizabeth McDonald May 28, 2340- May 5, 2371. James Allen McDonald February 25, 2335- May 28, 2371. They were all gone. There was no one left to take care of me. I tried to will my parents into existence. The ones that I knew were still alive. William, my father, had visited me. I still am confused on how that is possible. He had to return to his place in the stars, to my mother. I decided to curl up under my father's jacket that he had left with me. I lay there crying, wishing for their return. At some point I fell asleep._

 _Suddenly, I hear a noise that wakes me up. I open my eyes and look up. There is someone tall standing near me. Someone I don't know._

 _"_ _Who are you?" I ask._

 _"_ _I am known as the Traveler. I will not hurt you. I do need to tell you something though. I need you to go back to your home. Your parents cannot come back to you. It is not time for you see them yet. You will get to see them eventually. One day a young man will show up. His name is Wesley Crusher. He will take you to your correct timeline where you will be able to meet your parents."_

 _"_ _Why?"_

 _"_ _I do not have the time to explain it to you now. You will understand in time. This is where I leave you, Katylinn. Until we meet again." At that he faded away._

End Flashback

As she finished reliving the memory, I saw tears in her eyes.

"You could have taken me with you. I don't understand why you didn't. Why did I have to stay on that planet alone?"

She was upset and frustrated. I needed to calm her down before she got wound up too much.

 _"_ _Katharyn, sweetheart, relax. There is no reason to get upset."_

She turns to me, "Sweetheart?" I look down, damnit, I will need to be more careful.

"Sorry. It is a habit to call you that. Remember, I am from your future, you're my past." She nods her head in understanding. I watch her visibly relax and turn back to the Traveler.

"Traveler, what do I need to continue on my way? I have no idea where I am headed nor why."

"Wesley will be taking you to Earth the Starfleet Academy. There you will learn everything you need to know to become an officer and how to run a starship. You will also meet your parents. Get to know them, spend time with them if you wish, but make sure they know not to go looking for you. You are a fixed point. That means that everything about your life cannot be changed. You had to be born in that timeline even though it is not the correct one for you, you had to meet your father only to have him leave and you had to live and learn on your own. All of these events lead you down a path that will bring forth great rewards. You and Wesley are destined for great things. You will be meeting Wesley's past self where you will be in the right order with him. Eventually you will both be here with him rescuing your past self, the one that stands before me. Does that make sense?"

"I think so. Yes, it does."

The Traveler hands her some documents. They have her name, birthdate, species and some information about her on them. It is important for the Admiral to know about her but also make sure she doesn't say anything to Katharyn's parents. Her life will not start out as a lie. Luckily, Starfleet has some experience with time travel.

"Wesley, Katharyn, it is now time for the two of you to be off. Remember Wesley, drop her off and talk with the Admiral only. Then return here to your family."

"I understand. I will." I say to him. Turning to Katharyn, "Come here." I wrap my arms tightly around her. " _Ready?"_

She looks up to me, _"Ready, Wes."_

I summon up the time vortex again and direct our energy towards Earth. Again we disappear in a flash of golden light.


	5. Chapter 2a

I grab on to Wesley as we fade out, this is so disorientating. We are surrounded by golden light and I can hear what sounds like wind but I can feel none.

 _"_ _What is that sound? How long will it take to get to our destination?"_ I ask.

 _"_ _The sound it the wind of the time vortex. And as for time, it won't take long. Just relax."_

 _"_ _If you tell me to relax one more time…"_ I start to say.

 _"_ _You'll what, Kat? We really can't move much like this. We may look and feel solid to each other but we are really just a ball of energy soaring through the vortex. There is nothing you can do until we get there."_ Deep down I know he is right, I can just feel it. I just hate that he keeps telling me to relax, if I wasn't doing new things and knew what to expect I would be able to relax. I decide to give in and relax, to try to enjoy the ride. I lay my head on his shoulder and close my eyes. I can feel his heart beat under my hand on his chest.Wait, that's not right. His heart is on the wrong side of his chest. I move my hand to the left side where his heart should be. I can feel it there. Move my hand back to the other side and can feel it there too. Hmm, two hearts? It must be the ball of energy thing. He can't have two hearts…can he?

Before I have time to question him, we materialize in an office. Wesley slowly lets me go as I regain my balance. I look around and see a huge mahogany desk in front of a window that looks out across the Academy grounds. There are plaques on the wall that show the Admirals accommodations, pictures of what I assume are Starships and there are a few star maps as well. I walk over and look at the star maps. This one showed the whole Milky Way Galaxy. Down in the lower right corner you could see the Solar System enlarged showing the Sun and all of the planets, the Asteroid belt, and the moons for each planet. I slowly walk from chart to chart. It amazes me how much I actually know, especially since I spent so much time alone with only books to teach me.

"Katharyn. This is Admiral Bran. He will get you settled here."

I reach out to shake the hand the Admiral has offered, "Hello, Admiral, it is nice to meet you."

"Likewise, Katharyn." He sits and motions for us to do the same. He looks at the documents we have brought with us. "Your case is an interesting one, Katharyn. I understand time travel some, but most here will not. We will not change your name so when you come across your parents, you will have to explain if they ask. Your official records with have all of your correct information regarding where and when you were born, it will also be noted that you were born in an alternate timeline that no longer exists for you. For your peers you can give the birthdate of January 28, 2350. That puts you at the age of seventeen. Now, you will have to take all the exams, which I can schedule to start tomorrow. I have great confidence in your ability to pass these exams even with your current background. After your exams, we will get you set up in your classes. For now, I will show you to your room and introduce to a younger Wesley Crusher. He just started a couple of weeks ago."

My head was spinning. I couldn't believe that this was going to work the way Wesley and the Traveler thought it would. Of course for Wesley it had already happened. I am going to be taking exams tomorrow and living in a new place. This is all happening so fast. I look to Wesley and then back to the Admiral.

 _"_ _Breath, Kat."_ Wesley's voice in my head clamed me down greatly.

Taking a deep breath, "Thank you for accommodating me so quickly. It might take a bit for it all to sink in but I am ready. Could I be shown to where I will be staying? I need some time to process the last couple of days."

"Yes, of course." The Admiral replies.

"I will be seeing you soon, Kat." Wesley says to me as he fades out in a burst of golden energy.

I follow the Admiral out of his office and outside the building. As we walk through the grounds, he points out a few buildings. "There is the Admiral Demaro Hall, the Observatory, the Science Annex and this…," He stops by an elderly gentleman kneeling on the ground, "is the Botanical Gardens and this gentleman is Mr. Boothby, our groundskeeper."

Mr. Boothby looks up to me, shading his eyes from the sun. "Yes, Admiral?"

"I would like you to meet Katharyn Riker, she is our newest Cadet."

I extend my hand to him so he can shake it. "Nice to meet you, sir." He stands up, brushes off his hands and shakes mine.

"Hmm…" he looks into my eyes. I wonder what he is looking for. He looks to the Admiral, "She has potential." He looks to me again, "Follow the rules and stay off my grass. You will do just fine."

"Yes, sir." I say to him. He turns back to his flowers obviously dismissing the both of us.

"Come along, Katharyn, let me show you to your room. For your first year you will have a roommate." We walk into the living quarters. He takes me to a door and knocks on the door.

A young lady opens the door. She is shorter than I am, with dark hair and hazel eyes. "Admiral, how can I help you today?"

"At ease, Chelsea. I have brought you a roommate. This is Katharyn Riker; she is new here. Please show her around and make her feel at home. Katharyn, this is Chelsea Craig."

"Nice to meet you." I say as I shake her hand. Turning to the Admiral, "Are you still going to take me to meet Wesley Crusher?" Chelsea looks at me in surprise. I guess she couldn't believe how I was addressing the Admiral. I will have to learn their customs when it comes to addressing my superiors. "Sorry, sir. Umm…"

He holds up his hand stopping me. "Don't worry, Katharyn. It is quite all right. You will be told all of our customs and how you need to address your superiors. I understand that you spent the last eight years alone. I will contact Wesley and request that he come here and meet you. You can tell him as much as you are allowed. I am sure you understand what you can and cannot say."

"Yes sir. Thank you sir."

He turns to leave and Chelsea shuts the door. I look around the room. It is a simple area. I see three doors, one leads to a bathroom and two doors lead to the bedrooms. Still standing at the door, directly in front of me I see a wall of windows. I walk over to the windows and look out. I can see other cadets walking in the quad going to their classes or whatever they have planned for the afternoon. Turing around I continue to look around. To my left are two doors, one to one bedroom and the other to the bathroom. On my right there is an L-shaped sofa and coffee table and at the end of the couch there is a door to the other bedroom.

"Which room is mine?" I ask Chelsea.

She points to the door by the sofa, "That one. In each room there is a desk and chair, a bed, a storage closet for clothes and your uniforms. There is also a replicator in there so you can replicate your food."

"I don't have clothes or uniforms yet. Only what is on my back." I tell her.

"Well we can remedy that. I am sure the Admiral will have some credits for you since you came here with nothing."

"I will see after dinner. For now, I am going to rest. I have been up for over 24 hours now." I tuned and went to the room that was to be mine.

I awake a couple of hours later and walk over to the food replicator. And I stare at it. How does this thing work, I wonder?

I walk out to the main room, "Chelsea. How do the replicators work? I've never used one before."

We walk into my room and she shows me. "All you have to do is walk up to it and tell it what you want. Try it."

I go over to it. "Fruit and vegetable plate." A variety of fruit and vegetables materialize in front of me. I pick it up and walk to the main room. Sitting on the couch I sit down to eat.

There is a knock on the door. Chelsea gets up to see who it is. "Um…Hi. I am Wesley Crusher. The Admiral told me that I needed to come over here and meet Katharyn Riker."

"Come in." She steps aside so he can enter. I look up and see familiar brown eyes and dark hair. The owner, though, is much younger than the person that rescued me.

He walks over to me, "Katharyn Riker?" He asks me.

I stand up, "Yes. The Admiral suggested that we should meet. I can tell you why in a bit."

He takes my offered hand, shakes it, "Nice to meet you. Are you related to Commander William Riker on the Enterprise?"

I look at him, trying to read him. I had felt something when he shook my hand. "In a way, yes I am."

Chelsea went to her room to let us talk. I eat my food as we talk. He tells me stories about the Enterprise and my parents, even though he doesn't know that's who they are to me. I enjoy listening to him talk. His voice is soothing and I forget my anxieties about being in a new place with people.

I notice it has gotten dark. I still need to get clothing and some uniforms. "Wes, would you like to accompany me to purchase some things I need?"

He stands up and offers his hand to me, "I would love to."

"Chelsea, I will be back in a bit!" I yell to her.

 **Thanks for reading. Please review. I like to see what my readers think.**


	6. Chapter 2b

**I really hope that whomever is reading my story is enjoying it. I haven't seen any reviews for this story but I do see that I have 185 views. This is the end of chapter 2 of the novel.**

 _Maybe it's intuition_

 _But some things you just don't question_

 _Like in your eyes, I see my future in an instant_

 _And there it goes,_

 _I think I found my best friend_

 _I know that it might sound crazy_

 _but I believe_

 _I knew I loved you before I met you_

 _I think I dreamed you into life_

 _I knew I loved you before I met you_

 _I have been waiting all my life_

 _'I Knew I Loved You'_

 _by: Savage Garden_

Wesley took me to a store where I could get some civilian clothes and then to one where I could get fitted for my cadet uniform. I wasn't picky so it didn't take us long to get what I needed. I was enjoying his company, although I was slightly confused. I kept trying to talk telepathically with him but I wasn't responding. I guess it was something he learned later on. Maybe he learns because of me.

"Wesley, can we get something to eat? And somewhere possibly quiet so we can talk. I am sure you have questions that I can now answer since we aren't around my roommate."

"Sure. I know just the place." He holds out his hand for me to take. I look at it at first wondering if I should take it. I then decide to take it. I was missing his touch already. Grabbing his hand, I am amazed how our hands seem to just fit together, like we were made for each other. We walk down the sidewalk hand in hand to a coffee shop.

"I don't know if I like coffee. I have never had it before." I say to him.

"That's ok. They have other things to drink. What do you like?"

"Um…well…I don't know. I have only had water to drink. And as for food, well I have some fruits and vegetables that I could find or grow and any roots I could dig up. I lived on my own so…" I tell him embarrassed. I could feel my face heat up with the embarrassment I felt.

"Hey, it's ok. I will order something I think you would like." We walk over to a table and he pulls out a chair for my so I can sit down. Is this something all guys do, or just some guys? I sit and he pushes me in. "I will be right back." He walks off.

About five minutes later he returns with a tea pot and some tea cups on a tray with little cookies and two small plates. I look up to him questioningly. "Earl Grey tea. Would you like sugar or honey to sweeten it with?"

I look from him to the tea pot, "I don't know. I can try it without first and then add the sugar or honey if I want." He pours me some tea and I pick up the cup to taste it. As the beverage touches my lip, I quickly pull the cup back. "Ouch!" I didn't know it would be hot.

"Are you alright, Kat?" I look at him, this is the first time this version of Wesley has called me Kat.

"I'm fine. My lip is just burned. I didn't know it would be hot."

"Well, how else do you drink tea?" He asks me.

"I don't know. I've never had it before. I told you take when you asked what I wanted."

"Sorry, I didn't know that you were serious. Where were you living? And why did the Admiral want me to come meet you? I usually keep to myself, I have a hard time fitting in. So being told to go meet someone new and help her out surprised me. I almost didn't come but my curiosity got the better of me."

I look in his eyes, searching, for what I don't know. "It is ok. I should have thought, should have paid attention to the cup I was holding. I will answer your questions to the best of my abilities but I need one thing from you."

"What?" He asks me, interested.

"I need you to trust me. What I have to say might seem mental but I am being completely honest with you. There might be some answers I can't give yet or I might have to word them differently to keep from giving too much away but I will answer everything. Do you trust me?" I hope he trusts me, I already trust him with my life and quite honestly my life has been in his future selves' hands several times already over the last 24 or so hours.

Wesley takes my hand in his. He looks down at our hands and I can tell he is trying to figure out what I was wondering earlier; how could our hands fit so perfectly. I can tell when he has reached his decision, I can see the sparkle in his eyes, the wonder of learning something new. "I trust you."

I let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding. "What would you like to know first?"

"Who are you? Where are you from? Do you already know me? Why are you here?" He rattles off questions so fast my head spins.

I hold my hand up, "Woah, slow down. One question at a time please."

He smiles. His smile stops my train of thought. I am reminded of a kiss we shared, will share. The warmth that spread through me, I feel like I have to kiss him again. But I can't. For him, we have just met. I am so lost in him.

 _"_ _I wish you could hear my thoughts now. What I wouldn't give to hear you in my mind, to feel your presence."_ His eyes widen a fraction. _"Can you hear me?"_ He doesn't respond.

He shakes his head, "Did you say something?"

"No," I reply. "I didn't say anything. So, first question. Who am I? My name is Katharyn Riker, but you already know that. I am from the planet Ganzetpeer, which doesn't exist in this timeline. I was born there on January 28, 2365. Apparently I was never supposed to be in that timeline but my existence had to be there. The Traveler explained it as a fixed point, a point that cannot be changed no matter what. I had to be born there, my dad found me, or will find me," I shake my head confused on the tenses. For me it had happened but not for him. "He had to leave and never return. Which, by the way, he hasn't done yet. I had to live alone for eight years. And lastly, you, well your future self, finds me and brings me here. Apparently we are close enough that you feel the need to be the one to come and get me. As for why I am here. I have no idea. I was told that this is where I need to be so here I am." I look at him to see if he is still following. I search his eyes, his mind, to see if I have confused him. I see understanding in his eyes.

He smiles again, "I think I understand. I know the Traveler and he can be confusing but he seems to know things that we don't. If he sent you here, then I know you are where you are supposed to be. You lived alone for eight years?" His thumb is rubbing circles on my hand.

I could tell he was trying to figure out how that affected me. "Yes. Everyone left in the village died from radiation poisoning. I was the only one left and had to fend for myself. I did ok. Obviously." I shrug and smile at him. I can see him relax and process what I said.

I look down at the watch I bought tonight, ten p.m. I needed to go and try to get some sleep. I had those exams tomorrow. "Wesley, I think it is time for me to head back. I have some exams tomorrow."

He looks at his watch as well. "Wow it's getting late already. Time flies when you are having fun."

I laugh at his choice of words. "So it seems." He stands up and comes around to my side to pull the chair out. He offers me his hand. I stand up and take his hand as we head back to the dorms at the Academy.

After about thirty minutes we reach our destination. We take the lift to my floor which is the seventh floor. "My quarters are on the third floor, room 1305. If you need anything, feel free to come by." Wesley looks at me for a fraction of a second, making sure I would remember what he said.

"Third floor, room 1305. Got it." I tell him with a smile.

As the doors open to the seventh floor we walk out and to my room, 1701. Wesley stops in front of my door and turns me to him. "Here we are. I will see you tomorrow afternoon, after my classes, if you would like." He places a kiss on my forehead, "Goodnight Katharyn. Sweet dreams." He turns and walks away before I can answer him. I finally shake myself out of my thoughts and open the door. Walking in and going to my room, I shut the door and put my packages in the closet. I lay down on my bed and close my eyes.

 _"_ _Always."_ I think to him even though he can't hear me.

 **As always, thanks for reading. Please review.**


	7. Chapter 3

**I hope everyone liked the last chapter. The status for the story shows I have almost 200 views for this story.**

 **Well here is Chapter 3. It's fun, sad and romantic...**

September 12, 2368

The last year and a half has been a whirlwind. I have meet so many people and surprised so many professors with my knowledge. No one expected me to have the knowledge that I have. I didn't grow up with other people around. I was alone from the age of eight to the age of seventeen when I was rescued by one Wesley Crusher. That version is his future self and not the one I have become great friends with. Well more than friends. I passed my entrance exams with flying colors, the highest they have seen in a long time. I even scored higher than Wesley. Thank goodness he didn't get upset about someone scoring higher. The Psych exam was a weird one for me. Usually the Psych exam takes your greatest fear and makes you deal with it. Makes you work through the problem. Wesley told me after mine that his made him choose between two people under his command. One person he could reach to save, the other he could not. I asked him why the program choose that and he told me that it was because the Captain of the Enterprise had to make the same decision and as a result his father died, making that one of Wesley's greatest fears. Mine, however, was interesting. I didn't have to choose between people or work through a problem, I had to deal with being alone again. Losing my family. I had lived alone for so long I thought I wouldn't be bothered by being alone again but I was wrong. See, after finding someone and no longer being alone, subconsciously I was afraid of losing them. I walked into a room of graves, two for my parents, two for people I hadn't met yet and one for Wesley. According to the graves stones they had lived long happy lives, so that was something to be greatful for. After I had dealt with the trauma of seeing people I loved, dead I left the room. I didn't stop, I kept going. The test proctors had to find me so I could do the verbal part. They looked for me for two hours before they thought to look in my quarters. Luckily, they let me finish taking my exams. Usually when a potential cadet reacts the way I did, they get sent home and can retake at the next exam date but I was a special case. I wasn't taking the exams on a sanctioned exam day. They needed me to hurry up and take my exams so I could be placed. Sometimes being a time traveler and needing to stick to the timelines can be beneficial.

I walk into the main living area after I dress for the day. I see Chelsea sitting on the couch eating her breakfast and looking at her PADD. Sitting down next to her with my cereal and my PADD I ask, "What's on the agenda for today?" We had become fast friends when I was brought here over a year ago.

"Well, classes this morning. The afternoon is free. The Nova squadron has their practice for the commencement service performance at 14:00 hours and then we are supposed to meet up with them after for dinner."

Classes. I was kind of tired of them right now. It is nice to be smart and get to take harder classes but sometimes I just need a break. I don't get much of those. Sometimes, Wesley and I will go skiing or hiking but I mostly just stay on Earth. Currently I was taking Quantum Physics, Biochemistry, Psychology, Advanced Calculus and a drama class. The Drama class is for fun, can't be serious all the time. I would probably go insane, which is funny considering my mother is a Psychologist.

"So finals are in a week. I am done with all projects. Am I missing anything?" I ask Chelsea in between bites of now soggy cereal. I get up and take my bowl to the replicator. I can't do soggy cereal.

"You know, Kat, you should really eat your cereal faster or even forgo the cereal. You never finish it. As for missing anything, just your mind. I can't believe you forgot you and Wesley were supposed to go out last night. How do you get that absorbed in everything that you forget?"

I sigh. She was right. I had been so wrapped up in my final project for Quantum Physics that I had forgotten that we were supposed to go out. It was our one-year anniversary of sorts. It had been a year since Wesley asked me to be his girlfriend. He was looking forward to it and I forgot. I still didn't understand some of the customs that they had here on Earth, or rather customs the people had. I guess it's not solely an Earth thing. I had noticed that several species celebrated one year milestones and things. I felt so horrible when he showed up at my door dressed very nicely in a suit. I didn't even realize they still made those. I was wearing comfy pants and a tank top, having already shed my cadet uniform. The disappointment I felt from him was almost overbearing. He had the whole night planned, I don't even know what was planned. I was just supposed to wear the evening gown he picked out for me. It was a brilliant blue color that made my blue eyes stand out.

After many apologizes and promises that I won't forget again, he leaves and goes back to his quarters. I slumped down in my desk chair feeling about two inches tall.

 _I have let him down. I am the worst person ever._ I shake myself out of my thoughts and look to Chelsea, "You know, you are right. I have lost my mind. I am going to go find it!" I yell to her as I grab my PADD and my bag. "I will see you at lunch."

"Kat, that's a figure of speech, you can't really lose your mind."

"I have lost it, Chels, and I'm going to meet up with Wes before classes to get it. He has it, along with my heart."

She shakes her head at me and laughs. "Fine. Go. Get out of here." She pretends to kick me out the door. Laughing I leave to go see if Wesley has left yet.

Taking the lift, I go down to the third floor, to room 1305 and knock on the door. After a minute Wesley answers the door. "Good morning, Katharyn. What can I do for you?" His demeanor is slightly cold. _Crap, I really screwed up._

"I just wanted to see you before classes and apologize again for last night. I wasn't paying attention to the day and I got wrapped up in finishing my project that is due today. I didn't mean to forget. Can I make it up to you?"

"Kat, you apologized many times last night. I already forgave you, I am just hurt that you forgot. This is important to me; you are important to me." He steps to the side and motions for me to come in. "Come in. I am just finishing my breakfast."

I smile and walk in. His feelings are genuine. Yes, he is still hurt but he really does forgive me. I go and sit on the couch. His quarters are much like mine but he no longer has a roommate. Chelsea and I decide to stay roommates after our first year ended because we enjoy each other's company. You don't have to keep a roommate after your first year.

"So we are good?"

He gives me this look like how could you ask such a thing. He walks over to me and sits next to me. Grabbing my hands in his, he does something that completely takes me by surprise.

" _Kat, we will always be good. We can try again Saturday night. It will be slightly different but I can still take you where I wanted to. And you can still wear that dress."_

I smile at him and know I have a look of surprise on my face. He hadn't been able to hear me much when I would 'send' thoughts to him mentally and he definitely hadn't been able to respond in the same manner. "When did you start being able to do that?" I ask.

"Oh, I have been practicing. I didn't know it would work until just now. I noticed a couple of weeks ago I could hear and feel more from you, so I finally got up the nerve to try it. And judging by the look on your face, you enjoyed hearing me."

I relax. I know we will be ok. I look into his eyes, "I do enjoy it. It is very relaxing and soothing to hear your voice."

" _Can you hear me now?"_ He smiles and I know he can hear me. I continue telepathically, _"I wonder what changed."_ His eyes go slightly darker, if that's even possible with his brown eyes. I see images quickly go through his mind and I realize what had changed. _"Oh, a couple of weeks ago, we…"_

 _"_ _Yep."_ he replies.

Well I guess I see how that would cause this change. That night did bring us closer together, made us more attuned to each other.

 _"_ _Makes sense. But let's not let this new knowledge affect our work. We can't get distracted by each other."_

 _"_ _I agree. Now I believe it is time to head to our first class of the day."_ He stands up and extends his hand to me. I take it and stand up. I let out a small gasp as I feel a slight tingle where our skin touched. I look up to him to see if he felt it too. The look in his eyes says it all. Yes, he did feel it. We grab our bags and head out the door.

As we reach the quad, I start to pay more attention to what I am feeling. Now that I am paying attention, I can sense how attuned to each other we are. I can now not only tell what he is feeling and thinking but I can tell where he is in relation to me without looking. Our steps are matched; we can navigate the busy quad without bumping into each other. He moves toward me to walk around someone and I automatically adjust. I can feel the tingle where our hands are clasped together.

I am so engrossed in my own thoughts that I don't notice when we reach the science building. _"Hello! Earth to Kat! Come back please."_

I shake my head, blushing because I became distracted. "Sorry I was lost in my own thoughts."

Laughing, "I can tell."

We sit down and prepare to listen to our monotone Professor review for our finals.

After the class is over, Wesley and I go our separate ways. I have Advance Calculus and then I have to go to the Fine Arts building for Drama. He has Advanced Engineering and Trig before we can meet back up and get lunch. "See you for lunch. We are meeting Chelsea and Aaron. I am done for the day then. Maybe we can go back to your quarters after lunch until you have to meet with Nova Squadron for practice?"

He winks and me and then leans down to kiss me, "Maybe." He turns to walk off to his next class. _"I love you!"_

Slightly dazed from the kiss and the feel of electricity I got from it, it took a moment for me to register what he said.

 _"_ _I love you, too!"_ Not sure if he heard me or not I shrug and head to my next class. I will see him in three hours anyway.

"Come on every one! Places!" Professor LeBlanc yells at us. "We have seven weeks until we perform this musical for Halloween. I know we don't have everyone here but we can still work through this without those five people who are always here for the afternoon practices.

I get to my spot for the opening song. This musical is an old one from the 20th century. It is called the Nightmare Before Christmas. We had all decide that this one would be great to perform for Halloween next month. We are only missing a few people but they don't take the class, they just auditioned for the musical because they like to perform. Wesley was one of the missing cadets, his part was the Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington.

We work through the parts, sometimes starting over when someone misses their que or if the music doesn't go quite right. After the whole ninety minutes the end of class is signaled and we can head to our next classes or lunch depending on how our schedules are set up. I head out to meet with Chelsea, Aaron and Wesley for lunch.

As I near the Café where we are meeting I see Chelsea and Aaron. Aaron waves to get my attention. Wesley has not arrived yet.

"Hey guys. How did your morning go?" They smile at me, and exchange a look. "Ok, What's going on?" I ask them.

Aaron laughs and pulls something out of a bag. He then tosses the object to me. I quickly grab it and look at it. It is a brain. "Really, guys? Why the brain?"

Laughing Chelsea says, "Well since it was decided that you had lost your mind, we decided we should find it for you. I wasn't sure if Wesley had it or not so…"

Aaron was laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes. "Hey, Kat," He starts "be careful with your mind. It's too small to be out on its own."

They both laugh harder and I toss the Brain at him as I start to laugh. _Too small to be out on its own._ I love it.

Wesley chooses that moment to arrive, "What's so funny?" I look at him and start laughing harder. "I hope that it has nothing to do with me?"

"No it doesn't," Chelsea starts. "This morning Kat asked me if she was forgetting anything and I told her only her mind. She thought about that and then ran out saying I was right and that she need to see you so she could get it back." She starts laughing again.

"So on the off chance that you didn't have it we found it for her." Aaron says as he points to the Brain on the table. "I told her to keep an eye on it, it is too small to be out on its own." After Aaron says that, Wesley joins us in laughing.

"Really Kat?" Wesley asks me.

"Apparently." I shrug.

We order our lunch which seems to consist of sandwiches and hot tea all around. We talk about our upcoming break from the Academy. We were planning a trip to Paris France, just the four of us, a couples' retreat. I have never been so they decided that that's where we would go.

As we all finish our lunches, I look at my watch. It is already 13:30, "Wes, you have to be ready in thirty minutes for practice with your squadron. It's going to take you at least fifteen minutes to get where you need to go to even get ready."

"Crap. I had better go. Guess I am running to make sure I get there. I will see you afterwards when we meet for dinner. Come by my quarters about an hour before, there is something I want to give you." He leans down and kisses me goodbye, "I love you." He whispers into my ear.

"I love you too." I say back to him.

I watch him leave. I wonder what he has for me. Maybe something that he had planned to give me last night. I would just have to wait until tonight to find out. I hope it's good.

I turn back to my friends and listen to their conversation.

"So, Kat," Chelsea address me, "While in Paris, what do you want to do?"

"Hmm… Well I have never been and I want to see everything. I want to go to the Eiffel Tower, and to the Louvre. I'm not sure what else there is. I will research the sights of Paris and pick."

She shakes her head and laughs, "Kat, you are so helpless. I thought you were a romantic."

"Definitely not. That would be Wesley. He also has something planned for before we go to dinner. I won't forget this time. I am going to write it down." They both laugh at me. "So what do you two want to do?"

They both look at me mischievously. Aaron is the one to speak up. "Well we want to see some of the places you want to see but we also have a few more romantic venues to see."

Suddenly, we hear a crash of thunder and the sky breaks loose. It comes a to torrential downpour. We quickly stand up and run, laughing, inside the café to get out of the rain. We look out the window and watch the storm. "Where did that come from?" Usually we are told if there is going to be a storm so we can prepare for it. I look at my watch, the time is 14:15. At least Wesley was already out of the Earth's atmosphere and headed for the Academy's fight range near Saturn before this storm broke.

Finally, around 15:00 the storm let up enough for me to head back to my quarters. "I am heading back. I will see you both later." I tell Chelsea and Aaron.

"See ya, Kat." They both say as I get up to leave.

Back in my room I decide to take a shower. I wanted to make sure I was ready when he got back to his quarters. I turn on the shower full blast, water as hot as I can stand it. I makes sure I have my towel and anything else I need and climb in. I feel my muscles relax as the hot water hits my back. I tilt my head back so I can get my hair wet. I stand there for a few minutes relishing in the hot, steamy water. I close my eyes and concentrate on Wesley to see if I can sense him, even with the distance. I can sense very little from him. He is concentrating very hard on something. Deciding not to try harder so I don't distract him, I open my eyes and reach for the body soap. I grab a bottle, not looking at the label. I open it and then look at what I grabbed. I notice that I grabbed Wesley's body wash. I breath in the aroma and smile. _This smells just like him._ I decide I will use this one. After I soap my body, I rinse and then soap my hair with my shampoo and then conditioner.

While rinsing out my conditioner I am struck with great pain. I double over and barely keep myself from slipping in the shower. I have never felt this kind of pain before. There is a burning sensation all over my body. It's as if my body had been lit on fire. I try to figure out where the pain is coming from, what is causing it but I can't localize it.

I get out of the shower and dry off. Getting dressed is a feat in its self, due to the pain I am experiencing. Finally, I am dressed. I walk over to my desk to contact Wesley to check on him. I could be experiencing whatever he is feeling. He is the only one I am this close to. I can only hope I am wrong.

Before I get a chance to contact Wesley, my computer beeps. Someone is contacting me. I click on the answer button hoping it is Wesley.

"Katharyn," I sigh as I realize it is Admiral Bran. "You need to report too Medical. There has been an accident. Wesley has been hurt."

The blood drains from my face, "Yes, Sir. On my way." I disconnect the communication and head too Medical leaving a note for Chelsea on my way out.

It doesn't take long for me to arrive at Starfleet Medical. I go to the Emergency Ward and find the Admiral waiting on me. I walk over to him, "Sir, how is Wesley?"

He leads me over to some chairs and motions for me to sit down. I sit down and he sits next to me. "Wesley's squad crashed when they were practicing for the commencement performance. Four of the Cadets were able to escape before their ships exploded, the fifth member wasn't able to. Wesley has second degree burns over most of his body and he broke his right arm. The doctors are in with him now healing him. He will be ok."

I slightly relax, I could still feel some of his pain even though it was dull. I guess they had him on pain killers. I looked up to the Admiral, "Which Cadet didn't make it?"

"Cadet Joshua Alberts. His father has already been notified. I have also notified the parents of the other Cadets. The Enterprise was already en route here for the commencement ceremony. Captain Picard is going to give the commencement address."

"I knew Joshua. Him and Wesley were good friends. I became friends with him as well. I would like to give my condolences to his father."

"I am sure that can be arranged. If you like you can stay here and wait for the doctors to finish with Wesley. I don't know if he will be going home tonight or not, but you can wait and see."

"Thanks, Admiral." He gets up and walks off. I play the waiting game. I sit and stare out the window. It is still raining outside but instead of a downpour it's a steady rain. The weather fits my mood, sad and depressing.

Leaning back, I close my eyes and focus on what's around me. I mainly focus on Wesley and how he is doing. I can tell now that he unconscious, he must have passed out from pain.

"Katharyn Riker?" I hear my name called. I open my eyes and look to the doctor that has walked in. I stand up and walk over. "Katharyn Riker?"

"Yes, that's me."

"If you follow me I can take you to Wesley. He is awake now and asking for you. Normally we don't let anyone in to see the patient unless they are family, but the Admiral insisted we allow you in. He had second degree burns over most of his body which we were able to heal. You can't even tell he was burned. His right arm was also broken in three places. We have mended the breaks but he will have to exercise the arm to get his strength back in it." I nod in understanding. We finally get to the room he is in, the doctor opens the door for me, "I will be back in a bit to check on him. After that he should be able to go back to his quarters. Will you be able to stay with him tonight to watch him?"

I look at Wesley and then back to the doctor, "Yes, I can stay with him."

"Good. I will leave you to him then." He turns and walks down the hall.

I let the door shut behind me and walk over to Wesley's side. He looks tired and worried but other than that it looks as if nothing happened. I wonder if I will ever get used to the way they can heal people now.

"Kat." He says to me. He reaches out to me so I will take his hand.

"How are you feeling?" I ask him as I reach him.

"I'm not in any pain anymore. How's everyone else doing?"

I look at him, pain in my own eyes because I know what has happened but he doesn't know yet. "Locarno, Sito, and Hajar all made it out with you, Joshua didn't make it." Wesley hangs his head. Though I can't hear it, I see his shoulders shudder and I know he is crying. I sit on the side of the bed and pull him to me. I rub soothing circles on his back trying to calm him down. "Shush, it will be ok, Wes."

I don't know how long I sat there holding him. He finally calmed down and relaxed, but still let me hold him. I hear the door open. I look over and see the doctor come back in to check on Wesley. I nudged Wesley so he would sit back and I could stand up to move out of the way.

"How are you feeling Mr. Crusher?" The doctor asks.

"I'm ok. Not in any pain but I am ready to go back to my quarters."

The doctor chuckles, "I am sure you are. Well everything looks good. You are free to return to your quarters." He turns to me, "Remember to keep an eye on him. If anything seems unusual, please bring him back or contact someone to bring him here if he can't get here on his own."

"Yes, sir." I reply.

We leave as soon as we can and head back to his quarters. I get him settled on the couch and then run up to my quarters to get a few things I will need for the night.

As I walk through the door I see Chelsea and Aaron on the couch. Chelsea looks like she has been crying. "How is Wesley?" She asks me.

"He is fine. He is back in his quarters. I am going to stay with him tonight to make sure nothing goes wrong. Doctor's orders."

She nods and grabs a bag for me to put a few things into. After she helps me finish, she hugs me. "I am glad he is ok. See you tomorrow."

"Thanks." Looking to Aaron who had stayed quiet, "Take care of her." He nods and I walk out the door.

Returning to Wesley's quarters I walk in to see him pacing the floor. "Shouldn't you be resting? You've had a long afternoon."

He walks over to me, grabs my hands and leads me to the couch. We both sit down. I could tell something was troubling him but I wasn't sure if it was just this afternoons events or something else. He was pretty guarded tonight.

"Kat, I came to the realization tonight that life can be over too quickly. I know we all die at some point but Josh was our age. Still too young to die. I was going to you something before dinner tonight but things didn't go as planned. I know that now it might not be the vest time to ask anymore but I am going to do this tonight as planned."

"Wes, what are you talking saying? You are a little confusing."

"Let me finish please. Even though my friend died tonight and we should mourn him, I want to ask you one thing, because tomorrow isn't promised." He shakily gets down on one knee between me and the coffee table. He grabs a tiny box off the table that I hadn't even noticed. "This was part of what was supposed to happen last night but things happened so here I go. Katharyn, ever since I met you, your first day here, I fell in love with you. I had never felt like that with anyone before. I was always so awkward around people my own age, never fitting in because of my genius. But with you, I seem to just fit. We are comfortable with each other. I feel like I have always known you. I always thought I would have forever but tonight I realized that forever is never promised. I may have a hundred years left or a hundred days left, but I know one thing. I want to spend them with you." He opens up the tiny box, "Will you spend what every forever I have with me? Will you be my wife?"

I look down at the ring. It is a silver ring with a diamond in the middle. On either side of the diamond there is a Celtic knot. I look up at him and see the sincerity in his eyes. "Yes." I whisper because I can barely find my voice. Clearing my throat, I say it again but louder, "Yes, I will be your wife."

He stands up, pulling me up with him. He places the ring on my finger and then pulls me to him. After a brief hug he kisses me. I turn my head slightly so I can deepen the kiss. Everything inside of me comes to life.

 _"_ _I love you, Kat."_

 _"_ _I love you too, Wes"_


	8. Chapter 3a

**Hey everyone. Sorry I didn't update yesterday. I had a migraine and even though I was able to write some yesterday, I didn't get to a stopping spot to where I could update it.**

 **I don't own the Enterprise crew but I do own Katharyn and Admiral Bran. On the show it's Admiral Brand, and Brand is a female. Bran is a male in my story.**

 **Oh and parts of this chapter are why it is rated M. It was kind of hard to write the steamy scene but I think I did ok.**

 **Now, on to the story.**

September 14. 2368

Over the last couple of days everyone had been in to talk to Wesley. I tried to limit the visits the first day to only Starfleet officers and asked the Cadets to visit the next day. Wesley was tired and very sore from the accident and he was depressed from losing a friend. I tried getting him to talk to me but he would shut me out. I couldn't even get through to him mentally. I could only sense his emotions.

Today, he is a short fuse. Everything upsets him. He seems worried but won't tell me what he is worried about. "Wes, what has you so worried? If you let me in, I can help you."

"No, you can't, Kat, Nick is asking me to do something that I don't want to do."

I grab his hands and try to get him to talk to me some more. I start to rub circles on his hands with my thumbs. Sometimes that will calm him down. "Please just tell me what happened. I won't tell anyone."

He looks at me and then walks over to his desk. He picks up the gadget that is supposed to help him with his previously broken arm and starts exercising with it. "We were trying to do a maneuver that Josh wasn't ready to do. We pushed him and he panicked." He sighs, "We shouldn't have made him try it."

"Hey it will be ok. We'll get through this." _"I am here, and will always be here."_

There is a knock on his door. I look to him to see if he wants to answer it or for me too. "You answer it, tell whomever it is, I don't feel like company."

I nod and walk over to the door. Opening it I am ready to tell the person on the other side to come back later but I see it is a Starfleet Captain. I stand to attention, "Captain."

"At ease Cadet. I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard and this is Doctor Beverly Crusher. We came to see Wesley Crusher."

I shake their hands as I introduce myself. "I am Katharyn Riker. Please come in." I step aside to let them enter. _"It's your mom and Captain Picard."_ I send to Wesley.

Doctor Crusher walks over to Wesley and sits in the chair I had previously occupied. She starts examining his arm and checking him over. I smile slightly at her antics and then the smile fades as I wonder if my mother would have done the same for me. "Wes, I was so worried about you."

"How are you feeling Wesley?" The Captain asks him.

"I'm okay. The arm's a little sore." Wes, replies getting agitated at them for fussing over him.

"We are very sorry to hear about your friend, Joshua." Doctor Crusher says to him.

 _"_ _Seriously? Can't they all just leave me alone?"_ His agitation increases and he pulls his arm back from his mother.

"Do you want to talk about it?" The Captain ask him.

Wesley starts to stand up but I place my hand on his shoulder. "No, I don't want to talk about it. That's all I have talked about the last couple of days."

I lightly squeeze his shoulder, _"It will be ok. They are just worried about you, as am I."_

He reaches up and takes my hand in his. He starts playing with my engagement ring. _"I know."_ He looks up at me and smiles slightly.

The Captain and the Doctor are watching us. I can sense the interest in me from his mother and the slight amusement from the Captain as he realizes what the ring on my hand signifies. "That is a pretty ring, Katharyn. Where did you get it?" Dr. Crusher asks me.

I pull my hand from Wesley's and look at the ring as it catches the light. "Ask Wesley. He is the one that gave it to me."

"Wes?" She says, "Are you going to tell me more about your friend?"

He slightly blushes but seems happy that the topic is on me and not Joshua. Grabbing my hand back, he puts my hand to his lips and kisses where the ring sits. "She is my fiancé. We have been together for a year now and I decided that I wanted her to spend forever with me. I proposed to her two days ago."

The Captain smiles and extends his hand for Wesley to take, "Congratulations, Wesley."

Dr. Crusher smiles and hugs him and then me, "Congratulations to you both."

I can tell she isn't as happy as she seems but I don't blame her. She knows nothing about me. Here I am stealing her son's heart. She's always been the only one to take care of him and here I am stepping in. "Thanks." I say to both of them. "I hope we soon have the chance to get to know each other better."

We hear another knock on the door. I sigh and start towards it to answer it. "Seriously?! What now? Can we get a break from all the visitors?" I hear Wesley chuckle as I open the door. I see Nick Locarno. I roll my eyes and look at him with an icy glare. "What do you want Nick?"

"I can to check on Wesley." He tells me.

"He's fine now leave. You only upset him."

"I will see to that myself. You will let me in to talk to Wesley."

"Is there a problem Cadet Riker?" The Captain asks me as he comes over.

Nick stands at attention, "Captain."

"At ease Cadet." Looking to me, "Is there a problem?"

I start to say something but Wesley cuts in, "Let him in, Kat. Him and I need to talk." Turning to his mother and the Captain, "Will you please excuse us? I will see you both later."

"Bye Wesley." His mother goes to hug him but he steps back.

"Wes, I don't think you need this stress." I say to him.

"Kat, I will be fine. Now please go. I will see you at the hearing." He leans down and kisses me on the forehead. "I love you."

"I love you too." I say as I shut the door behind me.

I turn to the Doctor and the Captain. "I shall see you later at the hearing. Or do you have questions for me?"

The Captain is the one to answer me, "I have a few questions for you."

I nod, "Understandable. I will answer them as I can. Follow me, we will go to my quarters. I could use a cuppa."

I hear the Captain chuckle. I can also hear a stray thought from him about my choice of words. We enter the lift and it starts raise to floor seven.

When the lift gets there we exit and walk to my quarters. I unlock the door and go to open it. "Nice room number." Says the Captain.

"Um…Thanks. I think."

"It's the same as the number of the Enterprise. NCC 1701-D." The Captain explains.

I laugh, "Wes, never said. Please come in and have a seat." They both go over to the couch and sit down. I walk over to the replicator and order my tea, "Tea, Earl Grey, Hot, one teaspoon of honey." The tea materializes and I pick it up. Turning to the Captain and the Doctor, "Would you like anything?"

The Captain looks to me, "Same as you but without the honey."

"I will take the same as the Captain."

"Very well." Turning back to the replicator again, "Two teas, Earl Grey, Hot." Both materialize. I pick them up and take them over to the coffee table. Pulling up a chair, I sit down. "What questions do you have for me?"

The Doctor starts rattling off question, "Who are you? Where are you from? Who are your parents?"

I hold up my hand to stop her. "Hold on, let's stick to questions that pertain to the accident. I have already introduced myself. I will answer the other questions after I find my parents. I don't need them knowing about me before I can explain things to them."

The Captain nods in understanding. _I think I know who her parents are but I am not sure how it's possible. She looks like a perfect mix of both Riker and Troi._

I caught the Captain's thoughts. Looking at him. "Always expect the impossible, Sir."

"Excuse me?" He asks.

I shake my head. _That was stupid of me._ "Sorry Sir. I am part Betazoid and I caught a stray thought from you. I will try harder not to pick up on things."

"It's quite alright, Cadet. Now on to questions you will answer. Can you tell us what you know about the accident?"

"I don't know how much I can tell you that you don't already know. I have been trying for two days to get Wesley to open up and talk to me. All I have gotten out of him is that they were trying a maneuver that Cadet Albert wasn't comfortable with. They talked him into trying it and it cost him his life. I know that there is something more and the Cadet Locarno is hiding something but I don't know what it is. I also know that Wesley feels trapped. Whatever is being hidden doesn't sit well with Wesley's morals. He is torn between duty and friendship. But until I know what it is, I can't even begin to help him."

"You sound like our Ship's Counselor. How can you know so much about how Wesley feels?" Dr. Crusher asks me.

I look at the Doctor and wonder how much I should say. It does give me pride knowing that I am like my mother. "Wesley and I have a sort of connection. Being part Betazoid, I can already tell what he's feeling and even what he is thinking. But Wesley is a special person, we can feel each other and send thoughts back and forth. I can't explain how it works, it just does." I sit back in my chair, taking a drink of my warm tea. We are all quiet for a bit, just drinking our teas. I stare out of the window, watching the birds fly by.

"When is the wedding going to be?" Dr. Crusher asks me, nodding to my left hand. I had been spinning my ring on my finger without realizing it. The action called attention to what we hadn't discussed yet.

"We haven't talked about that yet. He just proposed to me two day ago." She doesn't reply, just goes back to her tea. I look down at my watch, it is 14:30. "We have thirty minutes until the hearing, shall we head that way?" I ask them.

They both stand up and put their cups on the table. I pick them up and set them on the replicator, watching them as they disappear. Hands free, I tug down on my uniform, setting it about my body correctly. I cast my hand towards the door. "Shall we?" They both follow me out the door and to the lift.

We walk to the Academy hearing room and sit down. I decide to sit down next to the Captain and the Doctor. The room is pretty full. I didn't realize this many people would be here for the hearing. Wesley, Nick, Sito and Hajar are sitting at a table in the main area. Admiral Bran and Satelk are sitting at another table perpendicular to the Cadet's table.

"I call this meeting to order." Admiral Bran states. "The purpose of this hearing is to discuss what happened and find out where the fault lies or if the was indeed and accident. This accident is a tragedy. Now, Cadet Locarno, please tell us what your squadron was doing."

I tried to focus on the cadets to see if I could sense anything out of the ordinary, to see if anyone was lying. I wasn't getting very far, too many emotions in the room. I decide instead of trying harder I would just focus on what was being said.

Lorcano is standing up giving his disposition. "At this point we, we accelerated and executed a starboard turn of twenty-seven degrees. We came out of the turn and set course for Titan."

Admiral Bran asks him, "And at this point, were you still in the lead?"

"Yes sir."

"Continue."

"As we entered Titan's gravitational sphere, I gave the signal to form a diamond slot formation. Remaining in that formation, we executed a low apogee turn around Titan. We then began a z-plus twenty-five degree climb in preparation for a Yeager Loop. Approximately nine seconds later Cadet Albert's ship collided with Cadet Hajar's. We had less than two minutes to activate our emergency transporters and beam to the Evac station on Mimas."

"Thank you, Cadet Locarno." He sits down and the Admiral calls on the next person. "Cadet Hajar. As team navigator, you filed a flight plan with the Academy Range Officer before the exercise. Correct?"

"Yes, sir." She replies.

"Did Nova Squadron deviate from the flight plane after you entered Saturn range?"

"No, sir."

"Then how do explain the low apogee turn around Titan was at least two thousand kilometers closer to the moon than indicated in your flight plan?"

"We were still within flight safety parameters, sir."

"That is not what I asked, Cadet."

"We had discussed changing our approach after I filed the flight plan. The final decision was made en route to Saturn. I didn't consider it significant enough to mention here. I apologize for the confusion, sir."

Commander Satelk, a Vulcan, address Cadet Hajar, "Did you see Cadet Albert's ship break formation?"

"No, sir. My first indication was when my proximity alarm went off."

"You may be seated." He addresses the other Cadets, "Did any of you see the collision take place?" The Cadets all look to each other and then set their sights on Locarno. I find it odd that they would need to look to him to answer a question. Only time someone would do that would be if they weren't sure of the answer they should give.

Locarno answers the question, "No, sir."

A look of disbelief quickly crosses the Vulcan's face. To anyone else, it wouldn't have been noticed. But to someone like myself, I could just catch it.

"Cadet Sito," Satelk starts, "you were in the tail position, therefor you should have seen any sign of trouble from Cadet Albert. Yet you say you saw nothing?"

Cadet Sito stands up when addressed. "That is correct sir."

"Did your attention falter?"

"No, sir. I was flying solely on sensor readings at the time. I didn't have any visual contact with his ship."

"Sensor readings?"

Sensor reading? That doesn't make sense. I might not be on the flight team but I do understand that you can't rely on sensor readings alone for this maneuver. Wesley had talked me through their flights many times. I could perform them myself and I have never practiced them. I can hear murmurs around the room. The Doctor leans over to the Captain and I can hear her ask, "What's wrong?"

"Well, it is unusual to fly on sensors alone in this type of maneuver. The pilot relies on visual clues from the other ships to maintain formation." He tells her.

I lean over and whisper to her, "Wesley has walked me through this formation before. He even told me that they have to have visuals to know where each other are."

We look back to the Commander up front as he continues to ask Cadet Sito questions. "If you were flying on sensors alone, perhaps you could tell us of the orientation of his ship before the collision took place."

"I don't know, sir."

I suck in a breath. This isn't making any sense. She is hiding something.

Admiral Bran speaks up, "You were flying a ship going eighty thousand kph, with Cadet Albert's ship less than ten kilometers from you and you don't know what his orientation was?"

"I don't remember, sir."

Locarno suddenly stands up, "Sir, if I may?"

He nods in agreement. "Go ahead."

"Admiral, Josh was a good pilot but lately he had been having some problems. He would get nervous during close fly-bys and pull away at the last minute. His formation flying was a bit erratic."

"And you didn't tell anyone?"

"No, sir. We had been flying together for a long time and I thought he could handle it if I gave him a chance. I was wrong."

"Then you are saying that it was Cadet Albert's fault?'

"I think Josh got frightened and tried to pull out of the turn early. He then crashed into Cadet Hajar. Josh was our friend. We didn't want him to be remembered as someone who panicked."

"Please be seated. I am very disturbed by what I have heard here today. By your own admission, you have allowed your teammate to fly knowing he was having difficulties. That demonstrates a serious lack of judgement. I am also disturbed by the fact that you did not come forward with this information immediately. We should have the first data from Mister Crusher's flight recorder tonight. We will reconvene at 13:00 hours tomorrow." He hits the gavel on the table, "Dismissed."

Later that evening I get a message from Wesley to meet him at the Academy hearing room. I head back over to the hearing room to see what he needs. Walking in I see him standing at the screen going over the data from his flight recorder. He turns to me and gives a half smile.

"Thanks for joining me, Kat." He reaches out and takes my hand. Setting the PADD on the table, he embraces me. I feel him relax and hear him sigh as he holds me to him. "Kat, I don't know what to do. I know what I should do but Nick is being very pushy about what I have to say."

I lean back enough to look in his eyes and place my hands on his chest. "Do what your heart tells you to do. I know Nick is lying about what happened."

He leans in to kiss me. I lean into the kiss and deepen it. Suddenly the door slides open and we jerk apart. Josh's dad walks through.

He looks to both of us, "Mister Crusher?"

"Sir." We both snap to attention.

"At ease. Am I interrupting?" We both relax.

"No. I was just going over my deposition for tomorrow."

"They told me you'd be here. I found this in Josh's room. I think it belongs to you." He holds out a sweater.

Wesley takes the sweater from Mr. Albert. "Our ski trip. Josh and I went to Calgary last month. He forgot his sweater so he borrowed one of mine."

"He told me you helped him with his classes."

"A little. He only needed help in statistical mechanics."

"If Josh had a weakness, it was mathematics."

Wesley chuckles and smiles, "No, he could do it. He just didn't like to."

"His mother and I thought he'd never get out of calculus. Then he found out what the

Academy entrance requirements were like. That turned him around. He stayed after class, got a tutor. He really worked hard. Never gave up on anything. And he had a lot of respect for you, and everybody on the team. I realize it was his fault. That everybody could have been killed. And I want to say that, I want to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry that he let you down."

Mr. Albert seems very upset, which is understandable. I wish I could help him. I can't imagine how it feels to lose someone like this. I continue standing off to the side listening to the both of them talk.

Finally, Mr. Albert looks to me, "Take care of those who are close to you, Cadet. Good night to you both." He turns and leaves the room.

Wesley looks to me, "I am done here. Shall we go back to my quarters? I could use some alone time with you." He smiles at me and I know exactly what he is thinking. I could use some alone time as well.

"Sure. Let's go." We walk out hand in hand and head back to our quarters.

Walking back to his quarters, we met very few people. Most were in the quarters or other places. No one seemed to want to be out and about this evening. When we arrived at Wesley's quarters, I went over to the replicator and ordered us both some tea knowing that he would need to relax some.

"Wes, I am going to take a quick shower, ok?"

He takes his tea from me. "Ok."

I smile and shake my head at him. Normally he would get a mischievous look in his eyes and ask to join me. I have got to get his mind off of things for a bit. I walk into his bathroom and start undressing. Turning on the shower I step in under the hot stream. Immediately my muscles relax. _"You know, Wes, this hot, steamy shower will help relax you. And I could really use someone to help me wash my back. It's so hard to reach."_

 _"_ _Really?"_ I can hear the lust in his thoughts.

 _"_ _Yes, really. My hands can only reach so far."_ I run my hands around my breast and down my flat stomach, all the while sending Wesley the visual of what I was doing.

 _"_ _I am coming in. Ready or not."_

I laugh at his words. _"Yes, you will be coming soon."_

He opens the door to the bathroom and comes in. I hear him taking his clothes off. It doesn't take long for him to be ready to step in the shower behind me. Standing behind me he wraps his arms around me, his hands come up to cup my breast. As he has my breast cupped in his hands, he starts kissing on my neck.

 _"_ _Have I ever told you how lovely you taste? How much I love feeling you up against me?"_ He sends to me telepathically.

 _"_ _I'm not sure. Why don't you tell me again?"_

He continues kissing my neck and makes his way to nibble on my ear. The light bite from his teeth sends a tingle straight down to my clit. His fingers make their way to my nipples and he pinches them just enough to make me moan.

 _"_ _You like that, huh?"_

 _"_ _Yes I do, Wes."_ I can feel the desire starting to burn but I make myself relax so I don't cum to soon. Between the hot water, his fingers and kisses I don't know how long I will last.

He slides his hand down to between my thighs. I feel his fingers as they rub against my clit. I am starting to breath heavily as I close my eyes and give myself to the sensations. One hand still around my chest, the other between my legs, I feel him slip one and the two fingers into me. Slowly he pulls them out and then inserts them again. He curves the two fingers inside me to reach the G-spot and moves them against it. The sensation makes me go weak in the knees and the desire builds.

 _"_ _Wesley, I'm not going to last long with you doing this."_

 _"_ _I know, Kat. Come on give it to me. Cum for me, Kat."_ His fingers start going faster and the palm of his hand is rubbing against my clit. That combined with his nibbles on my ear and pinching my nipple undoes me. I reach my orgasm, yelling his name. Sliding his fingers out of me he rinses his fingers off. He has to hold me up for a few minutes before I can stand on my own.

"Let's finish our shower and head to the bedroom. I want to be inside you."

We finish our shower and get out. The little touches here and there accompanied with seductive thoughts get me ready for round two. Wesley has been ready. I look down to his long, hard cock and then wrap my hand around him. He has a quick intake of breath when I do. I slowly start moving my hand up and down on him.

 _"_ _Oh, love, keep that up and we won't make it to the bed."_

 _"_ _So?"_

He pulls out of my hand and picks me up and carries me to the bed. "So I want to feel myself in you. You are hot and moist and I want to feel all of that."

Laying me down he starts kissing me on the lips. Then makes his way to my ear, neck, breast and nipples. He spends some time on my nipples, sucking and biting each one. I arch my back under him as he continues his assault on my nipples. He stops until I relax and then goes back to trailing kisses down my body. He finally gets to the apex of my thighs and noses me. I feel his breath as he blows across my clit. I grab fistfuls of bedsheet and close my eyes. The sensation being so much greater when one sense is closed off. He spreads my legs further apart and holds them still with his arms. I can no longer move them. I then feel his mouth close around my clit. He starts sucking on me and tugging with his mouth. I moan as I feel his tongue across me. I feel teeth nibble on my clit which sends sparks of pleasure through me. I try to arch my back to absorb the pleasure but I can't so it just keeps building. I am getting very close but don't want it to end yet. It seems though that Wesley has other ideas. He then slides two fingers into me again and reaches my G-spot. Between the two areas of sensation and the fact I can't move lets the pleasure build until I have no choice to let it go. I try to quiet the scream as I orgasm so no one hears me.

Wesley now gets up and lays over me supporting his weight on hands and knees. I look in his eyes and nod knowing the question, giving him permission to enter me. He slowly eases himself in me. I gasp as he fills me up and I stretch to accommodate his size.

 _"_ _Are you ok?"_ He asks me.

I nod. _"Yes I am. I am wonderful."_

He nods and starts to move in and out of me. Before long I have matched his pace and we are moving as one. Our minds intertwine as we move together. We are of one mind and body now both lost in our pleasure. It is almost like a bond is starting to form between us. One that will forever link us.

I can hear Wesley's breath quicken and feel him getting close. I too am getting close, the pleasure building for a third time.

 _"_ _Come on, Kat. Let go for me. Please."_

His pleas are both of our undoing as we both orgasm hard. After he empties into me, he collapses on top of me. Resting for a few minutes, he then moves to lay next to me. I turn over and lay with my back to his front in a spoon position. He wraps his arms around me and kisses my head. _"Sweet dream, My Imzadi. I love you."_

I smile at his choice of words, slightly surprised he remembered me telling him what Imzadi meant.

 _"_ _I love you to, Imzadi. Sweet dreams."_

With those words the last ones between us, we fall into a deep, restful sleep.

 **As always thanks for reading. But pretty please review. I want to know what you are thinking.**


	9. Chapter 3b

**A big thank you to LadyStark for your review. I also thought Wes was treated unfairly in "The First Duty". The relationship between Wes and Kat will go far but it will have many challenges. The events in "The First Duty" take their toll on Wes and that along with something else makes them both go to a very dark place. But don't worry, with the help of their families, they are able to get through the dark times. Stay tuned to see how that works out. I am glad you like my story.**

 **Now, on to the story.**

I find myself sitting with Captain Picard and Doctor Crusher again. Wesley is tense and worried about what he has to say. _"Relax, Wes. Everything will be ok."_ I sense him relax.

Admiral Bran opens the meeting, looking up to Wesley, "Mister Crusher, are you ready?"

Wesley gets up and walks over to the screen. "Yes, sir. This is the beginning of our run toward Titan. I am on the right wing.

"Where is Mister Albert at this point?" Admiral Bran asks.

"He was on my port quarter, approximately fifty meters away. We have just been given the signal to begin the diamond slot formation. That is Cadet Locarno coming into view. We are in a twenty degree turn around Titan. We should be coming out of Titan's gravity well now." The screen turns black. We have reached the end of the data recovered from Wesley's flight recorder.

"That is all we could recover from Mister Crusher's flight recorder. Mister Crusher, can you describe what happened after you left the orbit of Titan?"

"Once we cleared the moon, Mister Locarno led us into a Yeager Loop. Approximately nine seconds later, my proximity alarm went off. I tried to veer away, but it was too late and I was hit. I lost control of my ship. A power coupling exploded in my cockpit. I don't know how, but I managed to activate my emergency transporter and the next thing I remember I am on the emergency evac station on Mimas with the rest of the squadron, except Josh."

"Do you have anything to add to your testimony?"

"No, sir."

It is now Commander Satelk's turn to ask Wesley questions. "Mister Crusher, will you describe a Yeager Loop?"

Wesley uses his hands to describe a Yeager Loop. "The ships start in a diamond slot formation and climb and loop backwards at a steep angle. At the peak of the loop they turn over and accelerate in a new direction." He lowers his arms down to his side.

"Mister Crusher, did your team remain in formation throughout the entire loop?"

"Yes, sir."

"I want you to be absolutely clear on this Mister Crusher." Admiral Bran says warningly. "Before the collision, was Nova Squadron in a diamond slot formation?"

I stare at Wesley. Willing him to tell the truth. I know they are hiding something.

I see Wesley swallow and stand up a little taller. "Yes, sir."

Satelk glances toward the computer screen, "Computer, display Saturn NavCon file six dash three five seven nine. These images were obtained by a navigational control satellite in orbit around Saturn during a standard sensor sweep. Computer, freeze image. Magnify sector gamma three and enhance."

We all watch at the computer freezes the image and magnifies the requested section. We can see five ships forming a circle, not a diamond. I sense the worry from Wesley and the other cadets. I can hear the intake of the Captain and the Doctor's breath as the see that their Cadet lied. I shake my head in disbelief, why would they lie about this?

Satelk continues, "This was taken when the Nova Squadron briefly moved into the satellite's sensor range. According to the times index, what you see on the screen took place seven seconds after Nova Squadron completed the Yeager Loop."

"Mister Crusher," Admiral Bran addressed Wes again. "Are these ships in a diamond slot formation?"

"No, sir."

"What is your explanation, Mister Crusher."

Wesley visibly swallows, "I have none, sir."

Wesley sits back down and the cadets exchange looks with each other. Admiral Bran closes the meeting. It will reconvene at 13:00 hours tomorrow. I sigh, another day of this nightmare. I get up and leave without waiting for Wesley. I need time to think about what I had heard today.

Walking around the Academy grounds, I come across Boothby, our grounds keeper. He has been around for a long time, always taking care of the grounds and any destruction from the many celebratory parties that the Cadets throw. Boothby is kneeling on the ground pulling some weeds. He always wants to use his hands instead of a good herbicide. I stop and kneel down next to him to help pull the weeds.

He stops and looks over at me, "What do you want?"

I smile at his words. They may sound harsh, but that is his way. He really is a loveable gentleman. "I needed a break from the hearing of Nova Squadron so I took a walk. When I found you I decided to help."

"Well if you insist, Katharyn. Make sure you don't pull the plants out."

We sit there for a bit pulling the weeds. Suddenly a shadow looms over us. I look up and see Captain Picard. He kneels down beside us, "Katharyn, Boothby." He nods to both of us.

"Captain." I go to stand up to stand at attention.

"At ease. No need to stand up." I kneel back down and continue pulling the weeds.

Boothby looks to us, "These weeds keep popping up in the Pittosporum. Poor plants don't have a chance to grow."

The Captain pulls a weed, "You know, you could use a good herbicide instead of pulling the weeds with your hand."

I smile at the Captain, "He won't use one. He insists on pulling the weeds himself, says it's better for the plants."

Boothby looks to both of us but addresses the Captain, "And you could explore space from the holodeck instead of a starship."

I look down so the Captain wouldn't see my face. I don't think he would appreciate me seeing him get put in his place.

The Captain seems to shrug it off. "Boothby, can you tell me about Nova Squadron."

"Not going well is it?"

I shake my head and the Captain replies, "No, it isn't."

"Do you remember the parrises squares tournament of twenty-four?"

"The final game against Minsk."

"It took me three weeks to repair the grounds after that celebration."

"We had a lot to celebrate. Our team wasn't supposed to win. We were very proud of them."

"Well the cadets today are just as proud of the Nova Squadron. The celebration they held after Nova won the Rigel Cup made twenty-four look like a dinner party. To the other cadets, the members of that team are gods, and that's a hard image to live up to. But Nick Locarno, he watches out for them. He keeps them together. Nick is what makes the team special. He is their coach, surrogate father, and best friend all in one. If he asks them to do something they do. Even if it means going right over a cliff."

I stand up and digest what Boothby has said to the Captain. The Captain stands up as well. I address the Captain, "I would think that if Locarno asked them to lie, they would do it. He is the senior cadet in the group, their leader. Duty says you listen to your commanding officer. But does that include lying to cover up the death of another cadet?"

"I wouldn't think so, Cadet. I need to return to the Enterprise and see if my officers have found anything yet. Would you join me? I have some questions for you about the hearing."

"Of course sir."

"Great." He taps his commbadge, "Picard to Enterprise."

"Enterprise here."

"Two to beam up."

We materialize in the transporter room on the Enterprise. I breath in quickly. Wow, that was interesting. Never traveled that way before. I could literally feel my body come apart and then reform again. I wonder if everyone feels this or not.

The Captain grabs my elbow to steady me, "Are you alright Cadet?

"Yes, sir. Sorry, first time for that."

He laughs, "It can be disorienting. Come, let's go get Doctor Crusher and go to Engineering."

We walk out of the transporter room. I look around me in awe. I have never been on a starship before. I am so busy looking around I don't notice that the Captain has stopped. I hear him call my name.

"Cadet," I stop and turn back around. Walking back to him I notice he is standing with someone. I get back to him and stop, facing the newcomer. "Commander Riker, I would like you to meet Cadet Katharyn Riker. Cadet, meet Commander William Riker."

I look up and notice the blue eyes that match my own. I look at his whole face and can see that he looks just like I remember him. Except he seems shorter, but that is probably because I am much taller than I was at the age of six. Shaking my head, I extend my hand, "Nice to meet you Commander."

"Likewise, Cadet." Turning back to the Captain, "Have you found anything out yet that will help Mister Crusher?"

"Not yet Commander. But I am on my way to Engineering to see what Geordie and Data have found. Cadet Riker here is going to help with the investigation. She is close with our Mister Crusher."

I blush slightly. I really don't think my father needs to know about my engagement before he even knows I am his daughter. "I will help where I can Captain. I don't know much, they have all been cautious with their thoughts and feelings." That gains me a look from the Commander.

"Well since we have been delayed, I think I will just contact Doctor Crusher and have her meet us. Katharyn, you can talk with her when we are done in Engineering." Tapping his commbadge, "Picard to Doctor Crusher."

"Crusher here."

"Doctor, could you meet me in Engineering?"

"Yes sir, on my way."

We arrive in Engineering at the same time as the Doctor. The Commander had returned to the Bridge. "Report." The Captain commands.

A gentleman with something on his eyes responds to the Captain. "Nothing conclusive. We do know that the collision occurred about four seconds after the satellite images were recorded, but we still don't know how the ships got into the new formation or why the crash occurred."

Another gentleman with very pale skin and yellow eyes speaks up, "We unsuccessfully tried fifty-three different computational models in an effort to simulate the movements of the Nova Squadron just prior to the crash." Both gentlemen are watching me, wondering who I am.

I make the decision to introduce myself if only to get them to stop staring at me. I extend my hand to the pale one, "Hello, I am Cadet Katharyn Riker, Wesley's fiancée."

"I am Lieutenant Commander Data and this is Lieutenant Commander Geordie LaForge." I shake his hand as well.

"Nice to meet you both. Please continue." I nod to the screen they are looking at.

LaForge continues, "There are just too many variables to consider. Speed, altitude, course."

"Did Wesley's flight recorder indicate there was anything unusual about the ship or the way it was operating?" The Captain asks.

"The starboard power flow was fluctuating." LaForge replies.

Data chimes in, "However, it was well within normal operating standards."

LaForge continues, "Fluidic pressure in the landing struts was low, but I don't know what difference that would make. We did find that Wesley opened his coolant interlock just before beginning the maneuver around Titan."

I find that odd. "Isn't that unusual?" I ask. "The interlock is usually closed unless you are performing a check on the engine coolant levels. Was there any indication that Wes was performing that sort of check?"

Data and LaForge both shake their heads no.

"Filling the primary coolant tanks requires an open interlock but that can only be done in a maintance bay. Is there any other reason for him to have it open?" The Captain asks.

"It is the first step in purging the plasma exhaust which is extremely hazardous while the ship is in flight." Data states.

"But the engine could ignite the plasma." I suddenly realize what they were trying to do. I had remembered reading about different flight patterns and read about a very dangerous one. "Captain, I think I know what they were trying to do. I have read about a few flight patterns that can be performed, one that is similar to this is called a Kolvoord Starburst. The ships are in a circle and they get very close, about ten meters from each other, and then light their plasma trails. But it was banned at the academy after all five cadets died. Why would they try that?"

"I don't know, cadet, but I plan to find out." He turns to Doctor Crusher, "Katharyn wanted to talk with you. Do you have time?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Katharyn you are dismissed. Thank you for your help. I will call for you in a bit after I talk with Mister Crusher." With that he walks out of Engineering leaving me to follow Doctor Crusher to Sick Bay.

"So, Katharyn, what did you want to speak to me about?" Doctor Crusher asks.

I don't respond yet. I am not quite sure how to approach the subject. It is of sensitive nature. How do you talk to your future mother in law about finding out that your fiancée's father isn't his biological father? Wesley and I both found out about it during an experiment in Genetics. I was able to see the genes I share with my parents and able to see my DNA structure but Wesley's differed from what we thought it should be. While you could see where it matched with his mother's, the maternal DNA, it didn't match with his father's DNA instead it matched with someone else.

"Katharyn, did you hear me?"

I shake my head. I didn't think my internal monologue lasted that long. "Yes, I did. I think it would be best to wait until we get to sickbay."

"Of course." She replies hesitantly.

We arrive at Sickbay and walk in. I walk around seeing who all was in here. "Is there somewhere we can go that is a little more private?"

She nods, "Sure, follow me."

I follow her into her office. I see a holopicture of Wesley on her desk. She sits down in her office chair and motions for me to sit down across from her. "So, will you now tell me what you want to talk about?"

I smile. I would get to it but first I wanted to satisfy her curiosity first. "Yes, soon. But first I want to let you run a test on me that I know you want to run. I know you want to know who my parents are. And I need the results on file here so when I approach my parents and tell them about me I have the DNA to prove I am who I say I am. Would you like to run the scans now?" I could tell I peeked her interest. And I knew she would do the scans.

"Yes, I would like to run them now." She goes over and grab her tricorder. She walks back over to me and scans me with the tricorder. She then pulls the results up on the screen and types a few things in. I watch as my DNA is moved to the middle of the screen and two more DNA strands join it. The top one listed as Counselor Deanna Troi and the bottom listed as Commander William T Riker. Different parts of all three DNA strands show a certain color. My mother's is blue, my father's red and mine with both, showing how my DNA is made up of both of theirs.

"I can't believe it." She states is disbelief.

"Believe it because it is true. I have known since I was six who my parents are."

She still can't believe it but she accepts it because she can see the proof in front of her.

"Now that that is complete, on to what I needed to speak with you about." I point to her computer on her desk. "May I?"

She nods and makes sure I can log on to her computer. I am able to log into my database at the Academy. I pull up my genetics project and the information I put in of Wesley's results. I show her mine so she can see how they match. I then pull up Wesley's DNA, hers and Wesley's dad's DNA. I color code them so we can see what matches. "In Genetics, Wesley and I had to take our DNA and compare it to our parent's DNA so we could see how it matches. We then had to find genetic markers that would show different things we could be affected by. When Wesley put his, yours and his father, Jack's, DNA on the screen like I have here, we noticed that Jack's didn't match."

I heard Doctor Crusher take in a breath. I look over at her and see she is in shock. Possibly because Wesley knows the truth. It can't be because she doesn't know. Or maybe she wasn't sure and just didn't want know.

"Are you ok, Doctor? Perhaps you should sit down."

She sits down in the chair I had been occupying before I pulled up the information. "What exactly does Wesley know?

"Well after talking to him about when he was born, when his parents got married, even who you seem the closest too, we were able to test a theory." I take Jack's DNA off the screen and pull up a different one. I color this one as well so Doctor Crusher can see how they fit. I didn't put the name up yet. "This is the one we chose to look at first. Wesley was curious. The first one he chose was correct."

She swallows, "Just show me who."

"OK, but I am sure you know who it is. But does he know he has a son? That the one he is fighting to protect right now is his son?" I put the name with the DNA, all I had to do was make the writing clear. Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

She puts her head in her hands and then composes herself. Looking back up to me she says, "No, he doesn't know. And neither you nor Wesley should be the ones to tell him. I will do it."

"I understand."

"Beverly, I need to speak with you about some…" Counselor Troi walks into the office. I quickly shut off the computer, completely forgetting about the DNA on the main screen behind me in her office. "What is that?" She asks Doctor Crusher pointing to the screen.

I pale. Crap, I forgot about the DNA showing who my parents are.

"Why does that show mine and Will's DNA? Who is Katharyn Riker?"

As if this couldn't get any weirder, Commander Riker comes in, "Deanna, I wanted to talk to you about someone I met today." He stops as he sees her, the Doctor and I all standing there. She is looking at the screen, the Doctor is looking at him and I am looking at my toes wishing I could be swallowed up by the floor. "What's going on?" He asks.

"Ask the Doctor, or maybe we should ask her." She replies pointing to me.

Will finally sees the computer screen, "That's our DNA. Doctor why do you have our DNA?" I notice when it registers with him. It's like a lightbulb being turn on. "That's why you look like Deanna and I. Somehow, you are our daughter. How?"

I look up at him, relieved that I don't have to explain too much to my father. Looking to both of my parent's I tell them. "I was born in a different timeline on January 28, 2365. A couple of days later I quit breathing and almost as quickly, I resumed breathing again. They never found the cause. Although I have an idea of what caused it. Wesley told me about Ian."

"Who is Ian?" The Doctor asks.

"While you were on Earth, I was impregnated by a life-force entity that was curious about us. He was born, lived and when he realized he was the reason the ship was in danger, he died in my arms. I named him Ian Andrew after my father." Deanna explained.

I nod, "We were born within hours of each other and when he died, I almost died with him. I have been since told that I was never supposed to be in that timeline. But since I was I was, I had to stay there. The two of you died just after I turned one. You will see me as a six-year old child, Commander, but you have to leave me there on that planet. You must not come back for me. If you do the timeline will unravel. I have to live on my own the way I did. Wesley will come for me and he will take me to Earth to the Academy to his past self. It's already happened for me. I know this may be confusing but it's the way it has to be. The Traveler told me that I could meet the two of you. He told me to get to know the two of you if I wanted to but I had to make sure that you wouldn't go looking for me. Sorry." I felt bad that they would never know me as a child and I knew that it would hurt. I could only hope that they would be happy to know me as I am.

 _"_ _Can you hear me, Katharyn?"_

I hear my mother in my head. I held on to that for a few moments. It was so nice to hear her again. I could barely remember hearing her before. I look at her, _"Yes, mom, I can. And it is very nice to hear you in my mind again. Well again for me. It has been so long."_

She smiles and walks over to me. She puts her arms around me and hugs me. I relax into her embrace, only now realizing that I am taller than she is. I chuckle. "Why are you laughing?" She asks me.

"Because I am taller than you. I never thought I'd look down on my mother. I find it amusing, that's all." I turn to my father. "How do you feel about all of this?"

He comes over to me and grabs my hands. He extends my arms out in front and slightly to the sides of my body, looking me over. I look up at him. He is about eight inches taller than I am. "Do I pass?" I ask him.

He smiles and then pulls me into a hug like my mother did. "Yes, you do. Why didn't you say something when the Captain introduced us?"

I give him an 'are you serious look'. "Seriously? Would you have believed me? And plus I wanted to have proof first. Didn't want any doubt. I don't think I could handle that."

"Well that makes sense." He smiles.

Beverly stands up and addresses us, "Well as great as this is, Katharyn why don't you tell your parents what you and Wes told the Captain and I yesterday?"

I inwardly groan. This might not go over well. What kind of father takes it easily when he finds out his daughter is engaged? I look at my father and see the look on his face, he raises his eyebrows in question. I hear a muffled chuckle and glance to my mother, she has her hand over her mouth. She caught my thoughts and knew what I was going to announce.

 _"_ _You might as well get it over with, Little One."_

I wipe my now sweaty hands on my pants. "Well, a few days ago Wesley asked me to be his wife. We are engaged." I show them both my ring.

"That's beautiful, Katharyn."

My father clears his throat, "Well, um, any more surprises? Wait, don't answer that. I don't think I can take any more surprises today." We all laugh at him.

"Cadet Riker, please come to my ready room."

I tap my commbadge, "Yes sir, on my way." I look to my parents. "Want to show me the way?"

They both nod and my father extends his arm toward the door and follows my mother and I out.

 **As always, I hope you all enjoy what you are reading. Please review!**


	10. Chapter 3c

**Thanks to the guest reviewers. I am glad yall are enjoying my story. Here is the last section to Chapter 3. It ended up being longer than the other two chapters so far.**

When the turbolift reaches the Bridge, my father motions for me to precede him off the lift. He shows me where the Captain's ready room is and then goes and sits in the Captain's chair. My mother nods and sits in her chair beside my father. I smile and walk over to the door.

"Come in." I hear the Captain say.

I enter his ready room, "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes. I wanted to let you know that I have asked Wesley to join us. I wanted to confront him with the information I have and see what he has to say about it."

"I understand, sir. But why tell me? You're the Captain, you don't have to tell me anything."

"I told you because Wesley might feel like you betrayed him to me. You need to be prepared for whatever thoughts or feelings he might throw your way."

I nod in understanding. The door chimes signaling Wesley's arrival. Before he even enters I can feel his worry and unease. You would think that he would feel comfortable being back on the Enterprise.

The Captain nods to me, "Enter."

Wesley walks through the door. I can tell he sensed me as soon as he walked in but he didn't look over at me. "Captain."

The Captain pulls something up on his computer. I know what it is. "Can you tell me what maneuver this is?" He asks Wesley. On the screen I watch five ships go into a circle, cross each other's path and light up a five pointed star.

"It's a Kolvoord Starburst, sir."

"Five ships crossing with in ten meters of each other and igniting their plasma trails. One of the most spectacular and difficult demonstrations of precision flying. It hasn't been performed at the Academy in over a hundred years. Katharyn, can you tell us why?"

Wesley looks at me when the Captain addresses me. I look straight at the Captain, "It was banned by the Academy after a training accident in which all five cadets lost their lives."

"All five cadets, Wesley, five cadets lost their lives. I think Nicholas Locarno wanted to end his Academy days in a blaze of glory. That he convinced the four of you to learn the Kolvoord Starburst for the commencement demonstration. If it worked, you will have thrilled the assembles guest and Locarno would graduate as a living legend. Only it didn't work and Josh Albert paid the price. Am I correct?"

Wesley is standing a stiff as a bored. He has closed himself off from me completely.

"I asked you a question, Cadet. Am I correct?"

Wesley finally answers the Captain, "I choose not to answer, sir."

I can't believe what he has said. I jump when the Captain responds to Wesley's response.

"You choose not to answer! But you have already given your answer to the inquiry and that answer was a lie!"

Wesley raises his voice, "I said the accident happened after the loop and it did."

The Captain has come around his desk and is right in front of Wesley, "What you neglected to mention was that following the loop you performed a maneuver that was the direct cause of the accident. You told the truth, yes, but only up to a point. But a lie of omission is still a lie. Do you remember the day you came aboard this ship? Your mother brought you onto the bridge."

"Yes, sir. I remember."

"I let you sit in my chair. I was annoyed. A presumptuous child playing on my ship. But I never forgot how you already knew every control, every display. You behaved as thought you belonged on the Bridge."

At this point Wesley was starting to feel and look like a child who had let their father down. And the Captain is doing a great job taking the role of being like a father to Wes. I am sure that the Captain will manage to do what I haven't been able to do. Get Wes to tell the truth and not be afraid of what Locarno might do.

"And then later, when I decided to make you an action Ensign, I was convinced you could be an outstanding officer. I have never questioned that conviction, until now. The first duty of every Starfleet officer, is a duty to the truth, no matter what that truth is. It is the guiding principal upon which Starfleet is based. If you can't find it within yourself to stand up and tell the truth about what happened, then you don't deserve to wear that uniform. Now, I am going to make this simple, Mister Crusher. Either you come forward and tell Admiral Bran the truth or I will. The choice is yours."

By this point, Wesley looks completely chastised, and I knew that the Captain had gotten through to him. He starts to explain to the Captain. "Captain."

"Dismissed." The Captain yells at him leaving no room for possible excuses from Wesley.

Wesley looks to me and then leaves the ready room without a thought or word to me.

I feel hurt and I guess there is a hurt look on my face because the Captain walks over to me. "Katharyn, don't worry about Wesley, he will make the right choice and he will talk to you when he is ready. He won't stay mad at you; he is too mad at me."

I look at the Captain, "Are you sure you're not an empath?"

He smiles, "Your mother has asked me the same thing a few times. Let's go. You need to return to the Academy." We walk out onto the Bridge. "Commander, Counselor, would the two of you like to walk with Cadet Riker to the transporter room?" They both nod yes. "Until next time Cadet."

"Thank you Captain. I will see you tomorrow at the hearing."

We are all back at the Academy hearing room. I hadn't talked to Wesley since yesterday. I hadn't seen him since we were on the Enterprise last night. He wouldn't look at me or talk to me. I don't know what I did to make him treat me like this. I didn't do anything but what was asked of me.

 _"_ _Wesley, why won't you talk to me, or even look at me? What did I do?"_

 _"_ _You turned me in to Captain Picard."_

 _"_ _No I didn't. He asked me to look at so evidence and wanted to know what I thought. I told him what I saw. He is the one that asked you to go to the Enterprise."_

He effectively shut me out after that. I sigh and sit back in my seat and cross my arms over my chest. My movements did not go unnoticed by the Captain.

"Stop fidgeting. They are fixing to start."

The Admiral starts first, "Commander Satelk and I have gone over your testimony and the physical evidence from the crash. Your statements cannot be reconciled with the data collected from the NavCon satellite. Your unwillingness to offer any explanation for this contradiction is disappointing, and raises suspicion. We cannot escape the conclusion that either the data is faulty in some way or you have lied to us. However, suspicion is not proof and I have no proof that you have lied to this inquiry. Therefore, if no other evidence is presented, I have no choice but to close this investigation."

I feel the Cadets relax, all except Wesley. He still seems uptight. I wonder if he will say anything.

"For filing an inaccurate flight plan, and for allowing Cadet Albert to fly when you knew he was having difficulties, I am ordering a formal reprimand placed on each of you records. I am also revoking your flight privileges. This inquiry is closed." She goes to stand up.

Wesley quickly stands up, "Sir, I would like to add to my testimony."

"Proceed Mister Crusher." Admiral Bran replies.

Wesley takes a deep breath and then exhales it. "Yesterday I testified that the cash happened after the Yeager Loop. That is not entirely true. We performed a loop, and afterwards broke formation and attempted a Kolvoord Starburst. We knew it was prohibited. We knew it was dangerous, but we wanted to do something spectacular for the commencement demonstration. We pushed Josh into it and he wasn't ready. We thought we could do it." He looks to he is fellow Cadets and then to me. "We thought we could do anything. We were wrong, and Josh died." He now looks to Josh Albert's dad, "Josh didn't let us down, sir. We let him down."

Admiral Bran looks at the Cadets in disbelief. "Mister Locarno, you are the leader of Nova Squadron. Do you have anything to say?" Mister Locarno looks down at the table top, choosing not to answer. "Mister Locarno?"

He finally looks up, "No, Sir."

After Cadet Locarno answers the Admiral, everyone got up to leave. The Admiral wanted to talk to Locarno alone.

I walk over to Wesley and grab his hand. I squeeze it to let him know I am hear for him. "Let's go for a walk, Wes. Get some fresh air." I lead him outside to the Academy garden. We walk for a few minutes and then sit on an empty bench.

"They are going to be so mad at me. Nick told me I would be letting them down if I told the truth. He told me I should turn in my uniform and leave instead of dragging them down with me."

"Wes, it is better to tell the truth. If you never told the truth and it got out later then no one would ever trust you." I tell him trying to get him to understand.

"They won't trust me now."

"Yes they will, Wes. I still trust you."

"You're partial."

I laugh, "Yeah, I guess so but…" I look up and see the Captain and my parents approaching. I stand up at attention, pulling Wesley with me.

"At ease Cadets." We both relax. "Mister Locarno has been expelled."

Wesley looks at the Captain, "We all should have been expelled."

"You almost were. Mister Locarno took full responsibility for what happened. He said he used his influence as squadron leader to convince you all to try the Kolvoord Starburst and then to cover up the truth. He asked to take full responsibility."

Wesley looks to me and then back to the Captain, "He did exactly what he said he would. He protected the team." Wesley starts to walk off, "I feel awful. I have let everyone down. My mother, you, Katharyn, my friends."

I grab his hand again and send soothing thoughts to him trying to calm him down. The Captain just walks beside us, my parents following behind.

The Captain speaks to Wes, "As you should, and you will pay for what you did. Admiral Bran has decided that in addition to the formal reprimand, your academic credits for the year will be revoked. You will not advance with your class."

"I understand."

"It's not going to be easy, staying here on campus, everyone knowing what you did. You have difficult times ahead."

"Yes sir. Thank you sir."

"You knew what you had to do, I just made sure you listened to yourself. Good bye Cadets." He shakes both of our hands.

"Bye Captain," We both say.

I look up to Wesley, "I am here for you. We will get through this. It's me and you now; we are better and stronger with two."

"I know. Thanks, Kat."

We look over to my parents as they walk over. "Mom, Dad. I am surprised to see you both."

My mother hugs me, "We wanted to tell you bye before we left orbit."

I hug her back and then hug my father. "I am glad you came to tell me bye. I am also glad I got to see the two of you. Now, I need you to do something. Don't go looking for me. Remember, I have to stay where I am no matter what. I will be ok. I love you both."

My father looks down at me, "We love you too Katharyn."

He then looks over to Wesley who is still standing next to me. "You'd better take care of her, understand?"

Wes smiles and nods, "Yes sir I will."

My father seems happy with Wesley's response. They both smile at me and then my father taps his badge and requests the Enterprise beam them up.

After my parents are gone I grab Wesley's hand. "Let's go back to your quarters. I could use a hot shower and a back rub." He smiles at me and leads me to the Cadet quarters.

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please read and review. Up next: A little angst. Some issues our two love birds have to deal with and work through.**


	11. Chapter 4

**Thanks for the reviews. LadyStark, I did get your email. Thanks. I will be replying to it soon, but until then, this Chapter starts out in Wesley's POV, it will go back and forth between his and Kat's POV.**

 **Now, onto Chapter 4 Enjoy!**

I laid there holding Katharyn while she slept. We had come back to my quarters and taken a shower. Well somewhat of a shower. We did use soap but that was at the end. The hot water had helped ease some of the tension that had built up over the last few days. I had dealt with a lot of things, from the accident to finding out that whom I thought was my father really wasn't my biological father. I had lost a close friend and then had to deal with the confusion of whether to listen to my squad leader and lie about how the accident happened or tell the truth. I had a duty to Starfleet to tell the truth and a duty to my squad leader to follow his demands. One highlight to the troubles was when I proposed to Kat. I had planned to do that on our one-year dating anniversary but she actually forgot about that. So the next evening I asked her.

I was hurt, ashamed, and depressed. I have never really had to deal with these emotions and I hope I can make it through them. Can find my way to brighter days. I look out the window in my room and see the moon. Full, bright and beautiful. Just looking at it from here you can't tell that there is a whole colony on it. I feel Kat shift in her sleep and look down at her. I can see the top of her head as it lays on my chest. Her dark, wavy hair running over my arm that is around her and then onto the bed. She moves her head back just enough so I can see her full lips, slightly swollen from my kisses, her skin glowing with the after effects of our love making. Laying here with her, I can see her face, free of the worry she has for me.

I go back to thinking about the last couple of days, during the hearing. I didn't treat her right. I was mad at her for being on the Enterprise when the Captain called for me. I thought she had told him what we did. She hadn't though. She only looked at the evidence presented to her and put the pieces together. If I hadn't of told her about any of the flight maneuvers, she would have never known about the Kolvoord Starburst. Instead of listening to her when she tried to tell me, I brushed her off, walked away. I mentally and emotionally shut her out. I don't even know how it went when she met her parents for the first time. Did they take it well? Is she stressed or upset about the meeting or is she happy? I look back down at her. I will make it up to her. Without this amazing, beautiful young woman right here, I wouldn't have the strength to keep going.

I hold her closer and she smiles in her sleep. I smile too. We will be ok. I have her, she even said we will be ok because we have each other. I finally relax enough to fall asleep. At the moment, I feel safe holding the woman I love.

March 2369

I look down at Katharyn still asleep in my arms. I feel rested this morning. Sleep usually comes and goes. It hasn't been easy dealing with the loss of my friend and some of the ridicule I am getting from fellow cadets because of how I handled the accident. Last night I dreamed about how I felt after the hearing was over. I am glad I have had Kat as my constant companion throughout all of this she has helped keep me from going over the edge. We definitely are better with two.

"Kat," I whisper, kissing her on the lips. "Time to wake up. We have that archeological dig today." We are vacationing on the planet Marlonia. I love all they have to offer here. Today we are visiting an archeological dig. I love going to these kinds of places and finally convinced Katharyn to go with me.

"I wanna sleep a little longer. We were up late last night."

I laugh at her and start kissing her more. We were up late but she has gotten plenty of sleep. "Katharyn." I say in a sing song voice. I start to tickle her sides.

"No, Wes, stop tickling me!" She wiggles and tries to get away from me but I just straddle her and continue. "Okay! Okay! I'll get up."

I stop and stand up, taking the blankets with me so she has to get up like she said. "Last one in the shower gets cold water!" I say as I run into the bathroom. As expected, she jumps up and runs after me. She hates cold showers.

I start the shower and get in knowing she will be joining me quickly. Not five minutes later I hear the door open and close and then she steps in behind me.

"You aren't playing nicely, Wes. I wanted to sleep in today. This is supposed to be a vacation."

"You did sleep in. I let you sleep a whole extra hour."

"Wow. A while hour. I'll remember that."

I give a sharp intake of breath as she slides her cold hands up my chest.

"What's wrong, Wes?" She says sweetly.

"Your hands are freezing!" I exclaim, still in shock.

She lets the water run over them, warming them up, and then runs them up and down my chest again. She then brings them up and over my shoulders and around to the back of my head. She pulls me down a little until her lips can reach mine easily. She kisses me, angling her head so she can deepen it. I feel her tongue run across my lips asking for entry. I open my mouth and feel her tongue against mine. We kiss deeply, both enjoying the arousal brought on by the kiss. She backs up, breaking the kiss. I just stand there with my eyes still closed, wondering what she is up to. I feel her hands make their way down my body. I feel her mouth as it trails kisses down my neck, my chest and down my happy trail on my stomach to the hair just above my cock. She stops and I can feel her switch in mood as she considers her next move. The next thing I feel is her mouth around me. I lean my head back, enjoying the feeling. I feel her take me all the way in to her mouth and I relish the fact that she doesn't have a gag reflex. I feel her hand as it cups and massages my balls while her mouth continues working along my shaft. When she gets to the tip, she sucks hard and the lightly nips with her teeth. The sensations are enough to make me weak in the knees. I am glad the shower curtain rod is part of the wall and not made where it will come down when I grab onto it. She continues sucking hard on my cock, nipping with her teeth every now and then. The hand that isn't on my balls, joins her mouth, gripping tightly around my shaft. As I go in and out her mouth, her hand moves the same way adding to the sensation. As the sensation builds, my breathing quickens and my cock gets harder. I can tell when the precum comes because she starts licking my tip, which in turn makes the desire build more. I finally reach my threshold and orgasm, my seed filling her mouth. I quickly look down to her to see what she does. I see her swallow and then she licks the rest off of me. It gives me great pleasure knowing she enjoys everything about me.

She stands up, "How was that?"

All I can do in response is smile and nod. I am rendered speechless.

After our shower we head to the dig site. Kat looks so cute in her civilian clothes. Tan pants, long sleeved blue shirt and a hat. One of those big ones with the cord under it that can be tightened under the chin. I am wearing the same except a green shirt.

The transport finally gets to the site and we get out. Grabbing our gear, we follow the others to go into the cave. After thirty minutes we reach our destination, the tertiary level of the dig. The guide gives us some rules and then lets us go to see what we can find.

 _"_ _Hey Wes, look at what I found."_

I walk over to Kat to see what she has found. _"What did you find?"_

 _"_ _An old clay pot."_

I laugh at her response. _"Kat, they are all old clay pots."_

She sticks her tongue out at me then goes back to digging. I can't help myself, I reach out and grab her chin. Lifting her face to look at me, I kiss her and nip at her lip. "Stick your tongue out at me again and I will bite it instead of your lip."

"Promise?" She asks me, voice deep with desire.

"Oh yes." I reply to her.

"You know, if you keep kissing her like that down here, you will get a bit of dirt in you mouths. Which I don't think would taste very good."

I look up at the new comer. I know that voice. "Captain. What a surprise to see you here." I find it rather interesting to find Captain Picard here. He doesn't take shore leave very often.

"Oh, I am here with Keiko O'Brian, Guinan, and Ensign Ro Lauren. We are all enjoying various activities on the planet. What are the two of you doing here?"

"We are enjoying a vacation. We had a break at the Academy and decided to come here."

I feel Kat walk up beside me when she notices the Captain, "Captain, didn't expect to see you here. How are you? How are my parents?"

"Seems that neither one of you expected to see me in a place like this. I love archeological digs like this one. I am doing good. Enjoying some down time. You parents are back on the Enterprise. As far as I know they are doing fine."

She seems to accept that and returns to her chosen dig site. I return to mine for now leaving the Captain to do the same. We still talk some throughout our time there, but mainly remain silent as we are absorbed in our task.

After a while, the guide gets our attention and says it's time to return to the surface and take the transport back to our rooms. The Captain decides to join us on our way back.

"Captain, would you like to join us for dinner?" Katharyn asks him.

"I'd love too but we have to head back to the Enterprise. Would the two of you like to join us? I could have the Enterprise take you back to the Academy. I am sure you parents would love to visit with you Katharyn. And Wes, I know your mother would love to see you."

I look to Katharyn, "What do you think?"

"Well, I would love to see your mother and my parents. It won't take long for us to pack our things. As long as we have a way back to Earth, I don't see any problem with it."

"Well then, pack your things. The shuttle will leave at seventeen hundred hours."

"Yes, sir. See you in a bit." I take Katharyn's hand and we head to our room to pack our things.

 **As always please review. I love knowing what you think about the story.**


	12. Chapter 4a

**Looks like most of you are enjoying Finding Family. Thank you guest reviewers. And I am not sure where you think the story is going but you are probably correct. Let me know if you are right. I have added my own twist in this chapter. I had a little passage in a previous chapter between Kat and Beverly about who Wesley's biological father is (my twist) and in this section there is a conversation between Kat, Wes and the Captain.**

 **Now on to the story, Hope yall enjoy!**

We meet up with the Captain and the others about thirty minutes before we are scheduled to leave. "Captain where would you like us to put our belongings?"

He looks to both of us, "Wesley, just load them in the back of the shuttle. Once Guinan and Ro Lauren join us we will leave."

I look over to Katharyn and then pick up our bags. I know she is excited to see her parents. I know I am looking forward to seeing my mother.

"Why are you staring at me, Wes?"

"I am just admiring your beauty. And I was enjoying how excited you are. Sometimes it's nice to know how you feel. Then I can enjoy it with you."

She walks onto the shuttle and takes a seat. I follow her and go over to the Captain who is already sitting down. "Do you need me to do anything, sir?"

"No, Mister Crusher. Go on and have a set next to Miss. Riker." I wonder at the change in the way he addresses us, from informal too formal. I look back towards the entrance to the shuttle and realize why the change. Keiko, Ro and Guinan have joined us in the shuttle. The three of them sit down and the Captain and Ensign Ro Lauren proceed with the pre-flight checklist.

We are finally ready to take off. Keiko and Ensign Ro have been mostly quiet, not bothering to ask about Kat or myself. Guinan, however, wasted no time is talking to us.

"Wesley, it is nice to see you. It has been a while since I have seen you."

"It is nice to see you too." I say to her.

Guinan then looks over at Kat. "Hello, I don't believe we have met before. My name is Guinan. I work in ten forward."

Kat looks at Guinan and smiles. "Nice to meet you. I am Katharyn Riker."

I see Guinan raise her eyebrows and she looks over at me. Katharyn notices as well. "Yes, my parents are who you think they are."

"So what were the two of you doing on Marlonia?"

"Kat and I are on break from the Academy. We decided on Marlonia because of the archeological digs. I really enjoy Archeology and I convinced Kat to join me. We found some amazing pieces of pottery. When we get back to the Academy, I want to piece together what I have and see if I found a whole piece."

"You can have mine to see if they fit or make a whole if you want, Wes. I enjoy other extracurricular activities, like reading ancient texts and playing music. Acting and singing. Among other things."

She nudges my shoulder and I know exactly what she is thinking. I can feel my face heat up as I blush. _"Kat! I really hope the Captain doesn't catch your meaning."_ She just laughs softly.

The Captain loudly clears his throat, "I found a few pieces of pottery as well. I found these in the tertiary level of the dig. They are typical of Marlonian cookware. Early second century it looks like. These markings as very similar too early Taguan designs, but have more intricate patterns making them closer to Buranian."

Guinan looks to the Captain and then back to us. "You three take shore leave on the most beautiful planet in this area and you spend it in a cave?" She then looks to Kat, "Please tell me you got Wesley to do other activities?"

I blush again and Kat smiles, "Of course I did. We did several activities."

 _"_ _Did you just wink at Guinan?"_

 _"_ _Wouldn't you like to know."_

"Well I found it to be a very rewarding experience myself. Just look at these fragments, they are in near perfect condition. Kat, Wes, how do your pieces look?"

I answer before Kat can. "Near perfect condition just like yours. Which is great considering they are around seven hundred years old."

Guinan looks at the Captain, "So is my father."

Kat looks up to Guinan, "Really? What species are you?"

I tune them out and listen to the conversation between Ensign Ro and Keiko.

"Is that a Draebidium Froctus?" Ro asks Keiko.

"Actually, it's an Draebidium Calimus. You can tell by the shape of the leaves. I didn't know you were interested in plant biology."

"I took a class at the Academy. I don't remember very much though."

I look at Ensign Ro, "Don't worry, I don't remember much either. Captain Sprout was a bit monotone and it was hard to stay awake."

Kat taps my back, "Wes, I still don't understand why you took that class. You couldn't tell a helpful plant from a poisonous plant if your life depended on it. And let's hope it never does." Everyone got a laugh out of that one.

"Enterprise to shuttlecraft Fermi."

"This is Fermi, go ahead Enterprise." Ro says.

"We have just received a distress signal from the Starfleet science team on Ligos Seven."

Captain Picard assumes command and is now all business. It never ceases to amaze me how he can go from laid back and relaxed to all business in a moment's notice. "Can you identify the problem?"

"No sir. The call was cut off mid-transmission."

"Lay in a course and prepare to engage at warp eight as soon as we are on board. We also have two visitors with us. Have quarters prepared for them."

"Aye, sir.

"We will rendezvous with the ship in three minutes, sir." Ensign Ro tells the Captain.

All of a sudden we enter a blue vortex. I have never seen anything like it before. Ensign Ro starts reading instruments, "We are caught in some kind of energy field."

"Hard about, full impulse."

"Aye, sir." She tries making the requested adjustments but nothing changes. Kat grabs my hand and holds on to it tightly. I can feel fear coming from her and I know she can feel the same coming off of myself and the others.

Ro and the Captain keep trying to contact the Enterprise but they are getting no answer.

"There is too much interference. I can't contact the Enterprise."

The Captain is still trying to help get us out of the vortex. "Transfer auxiliary power to the inertial dampers."

We hear the shuttles warning system. "Warning. Structural failure imminent."

Great. Just what we need. At least I have complete faith in the Captain's abilities to get us out of danger. I hope the Enterprise can get a lock on us and beam us aboard before the shuttle breaks up.

Finally, we get beamed aboard the Enterprise. I can see Commander Riker and Mr. O'Brian in the transporter room. They both have a surprised look on their faces.

"Thank you, Mister O'Brian. Another moment and…" The Captain stops. I look over to him and then Kat. I then look to the others and see they all look like children. I face palm, and shake my head. Oh, no!

When we materialize in the transporter room on the Enterprise, I see my father standing in there. He has a surprised look in his face. I look around as the Captain starts to speak and realize why. We all look like children. I don't want to be a child again. It wasn't great the first time around. I was very lonely.

I watch as the Captain gets a worried look on his face and Wesley face palms and shakes his head.

My father looks at all of us, "Captain, I think we should head to sickbay and see if Doctor Crusher can figure out what happened."

"Of course, Number One."

I see my father raise his eyebrows, he doesn't seem comfortable with taking orders from a child.

We get to sickbay and the Doctor comes in. She notices the Captain, Ro, Keiko and Guinan first. "What happened?"

"The shuttle was enveloped in a blue vortex and when the Enterprise beamed us aboard we became children." The Captain tells her.

I look over at her, "Please tell me you can fix me. I really don't want to be a kid again. It wasn't great the first time."

She finally notices Wesley and I when I speak. "Wes, Kat, what are you doing here?"

"We were on leave from the Academy and ran into the Captain. He invited us back to the Enterprise. It's nice to see you mom. I just wish I wasn't a kid again either." Wesley tells his mother. She then walks over and gives him a hug.

"Don't worry. I will figure out what happened and fix all of you. I just need to run some tests first."

She runs her test as my mother walks in.

"What happened?" She asks my father not yet noticing me. It amazes me how I can blend in still. It was my favorite thing to do as a child when there were still people on Ganzetpeer. I could blend in and observe what was going on around me.

"There was some sort of transporter malfunction. When the six of them were beamed aboard, they were turned into children. Doctor Crusher is performing scans of each of them to see if she can figure out what happened."

"Six of them? Who are the two extra?"

"The Captain ran into Katharyn and Wesley on Marlonia. He invited them here so they could visit."

My mother then notices me. She walks over to me and wraps her arms around me. "Oh, Little One. We will get this figured out. I am glad to see you though."

"I know you will get it figured out. I'm not worried. I would just rather I not have to grow up all over again. It was difficult enough the first time."

She releases me and they both walk over to the Doctor. I move closer to Wesley. He stands behind me and puts his arms around me. There is now a bigger difference in height between us than there was. I kind of like being able to tuck my head under his chin now. I can hear as his mother talks to my parents about all six of us. We all listen in even though the adults don't think we are listening.

"According to the bioscans, their DNA structure is now consistent with those of preadolescence. But as far as we can tell only their bodies were changed."

"Their individual intelligence and their behavioral responses are exactly the same as they were before the accident." Deanna tells Beverly and Will. She looks over to Wes and I, "They definitely still have adult responses. We might need to watch those two until we get them all back too normal. Preadolescence and then adolescence urges, while ok as adult aren't ok before then."

I see her looking at us and catch what she said. I roll my eyes at her and watch as she smiles.

The Captain chooses now to speak up, "What happened to the shuttlecraft, Number One?"

"The shuttle broke up just after we beamed you all out of there. Mister Data is coordinating the salvage efforts now. Sir." I can feel how uncomfortable my father feels addressing a child, listening to a child. It is very hard for any adult to accept a child telling them what to do, especially when their own child is right there.

"What about the energy field the shuttle passed through?" Wesley asks. Until now he had been very quiet. He was trying to figure out what happened.

"We have been trying to scan it, but we are running into a lot of interference. It will take some time." My father answers.

The Captain jumps off the lab table and adjusts his uniform, "We can't afford to stick around any longer. The distress call for Ligos Seven is top priority. Leave a class four probe behind to gather information on the vortex. Doctor, let me know when you have further information. Number One you are with me." He starts to walk out of sickbay.

Doctor Crusher stops him, "Captain, I need to run additional tests."

He turns to her and nods, "Of course. The five of you will remain as needed to assist the Doctor." He turns back around and walks out of sickbay with my father following behind him.

I watch them walk out and them look to the others. Guinan and Ro are sitting on one exam table, Keiko on another and Wesley and I standing between the two. Guinan keeps staring at Ro.

Ro finally notices, "What?" She asks Guinan.

"You know, you make a pretty cute kid."

I laugh out loud which earns me a glare from Ro before she turns back to Guinan.

"Great. Just what I want to be, cute."

I shrug my shoulders, "Hey at least it's better than being ugly."

"Were you this much fun when you were a kid?" Guinan asks Ro.

"I was in a refugee camp. Fun wasn't in my vocabulary."

"At least you had other's around to talk to and for company. I had no one. Everyone on the planet died from radiation leaving me all alone." I told Ro.

Guinan looks from Ro to me, "What about now? You aren't in that camp anymore." She says to Ro. "And you," she says turning to me. "are not alone anymore."

"Fun is being back at work in my own uniform." Ro replies.

I consider both of their words. "Yes well we obviously can't work right now so we might as well enjoy ourselves right?" I ask all of them. Looking at each of them in turn.

I look all around sickbay to see where all the adults are. My mother and the Doctor have walked over to the Doctor's office for a moment. I them smile mischievously at Wes before I tap his shoulder and run off. "Tag! You're it!" Guinan and Wesley chase me out of sickbay.

We run down the corridor tagging each other as we run, not caring about the rules. We know we shouldn't be running but where is the fun in following rules.

I was facing Wes and Guinan basically running backwards, "Come and get me! I bet you can't catch me!" I quickly turn back around to run a little faster. Only instead of running faster I bump into something solid and fall backwards, hard on my butt.

"Oof." My wall says. Hmm…walls can't talk. I look up and see my father.

"Oops. Um…sorry Daddy. I didn't see you."

"No, I bet you didn't. I find it hard to see what's behind me as well. Not to mention you aren't supposed to be running in the corridors."

"Yes, sir." I reply.

"Don't let me see it again. Now, Guinan, you should return to your quarters. Wes, go to your mother's and Kat go to your mother's."

"Dad, we were just playing. I don't want to go to mom's quarters. I will be bored."

He looks down at me with a stern look. "Katharyn, your mother and I don't want you going anywhere alone with Wesley until we have you both back to being adults. Certain activities are not appropriate for you now."

"We aren't alone, Guinan is with us. Can we go to the holodeck?"

He sighs and rubs his hand down his face. "I guess. Just stay together, understand."

I smile at him, "Thank you daddy." I hug him and we walk off while he continues on his way.

As soon as he is around the corner, we start skipping down the corridor.

"Wes, Kat, I am going to go find Ro Laren. She needs to loosen up." She skips off to go to Ro Laren's quarters.

I look to Wes. "Well we aren't supposed to be alone. Let's go find Jean-Luc."

"Why?" Wes asks me.

"Because I have some questions for him and I think it would be good for him to spend some time with you. Maybe he will see something that your mother hasn't told him about yet."

He shrugs his shoulders. "I guess. If you want to."

I smile, "Of course. Computer, where is Captain Picard?"

"Captain Picard is in his quarters."

I grab Wesley's hand and drag him off to the Captain's quarters. When we get there I push the door chime.

"Enter."

We both walk in. "Jean-Luc, would you like to go horseback riding on the holodeck with us?"

"Jean-Luc? I will be addressed as Captain."

"No offence but you are currently twelve years old like Wesley. Therefore, you are Jean-Luc. Now, horseback riding?"

He looks to me considering what I said. "Aren't you twelve as well?" he asks me.

"No, I'm closer to ten or eleven. I went through puberty early so preadolescence would be ten or eleven for me. Doesn't really matter. Are we going?"

He looks to me and then to Wesley who had been quiet this whole time. "Wes, what do you want to do?"

"I would like to go horseback riding as well."

"Ok. Let me grab my saddle and we will head to the holodeck." He changes and gathers what he needs and we head to the holodeck.

When we get to the holodeck, Jean-Luc calls up a program and we enter. I can see a beautiful, thick forest with beautiful mountains in the background. There is a clear blue sky with a few wispy clouds here and there. We walk up to the horses. Two of them already have saddles on them and the other only has a blanket on its back. Jean-Luc puts his saddle on its back and tightens it down. After the saddle is on the horse he mounts it and we do the same with ours.

I have only been horseback riding once last summer. Wesley took me to a beach where we could ride horses in the surf. But this is nothing like the surf, I soon find out. There are a few trails going different directions. Jean-Luc chooses one and we follow him. The path is a little bumpy and I occasionally feel like I am going to fall off.

Everyone is silent as we pick our way through the path. I don't know where it is leading nor how long we are riding. I just know that this is a very peaceful ride. I look at the two boys in front of me. From the back they look identical. Their hair is the same color. They hold themselves in the same manner. From the front I know I could tell them apart. There are some similarities between the two of them. I don't think Jean-Luc would notice it unless it was pointed out. Their noses are set the same on their faces. They both chew their lip when they are deep in thought like they are now. Even when they are adults, they chew on their bottom lips. I had seen Jean-Luc do it when he was at the hearing at the Academy last September.

I, myself, am deep in thought. So deep in fact that I don't realize that we have gotten to a clearing in the forest. My horse had been following Wesley's and Jean-Luc's horses so when they stopped, mine did as well.

I look around me at the clearing. The clearing has soft, green grass in the middle. The trees surrounding the clearing are very tall, but the branches don't form a canopy at the top. You can see the blue sky and the clouds.

"Let's stop here. I would like to just lay down in the grass and watch the clouds." Jean-Luc gets off of his horse and lets him loose to graze. Wesley and I do the same with ours. We watch as Jean-Luc goes to the middle of the clearing and lays down in the grass. We follow suit. We all lay with our heads in the middle, almost touching, on our backs.

Wesley points to a cloud. "That one looks like a puppy."

I angle my head to one side trying to see what he was seeing. "I think it looks more like a cat."

"No I see a wolf." Jean-Luc points out. We all laugh and continue pointing out what we see in the clouds.

After a while we get quiet. We just lay there, looking at the sky. A song comes to mind and I start singing it.

 _If I lay here  
If I just lay here  
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?_

 _Forget what we're told  
Before we get too old  
Show me a garden that's bursting into life_

 _Let's waste time  
Chasing clouds  
Around the sky_

"Kat, it's chasing cars around our heads, not clouds around the sky." Wesley states interrupting me.

"I know, but we aren't chasing cars, we are watching clouds so I changed it up a bit."

"You know, Wes, I was thinking the same thing. I also noticed something and I am not quite sure what to make of it."

"Well, great minds think alike." Wesley says to Jean-Luc. "What did you notice?"

"Well, I noticed a few things about you. You see, you were fifteen when you came to the Enterprise. I hadn't seen you in ten years. I never paid much attention to who you looked like as a child. If you looked more like your mother or your father."

I tense up slightly and then relax. This isn't a bad thing. It would be great for Jean-Luc to find out about Wesley without us telling him. "I notice that you both have the same hair. Your noses look the same and you both bite your bottom lips when you are thinking. Oh and when you both stand up, you fix your uniform in exactly the same way."

"Thanks Kat. But I think I noticed that myself over the years. I just never questioned it. But now I can't help but question it. Other's might question it as well if they see us together."

He stops and sits up. Wesley and I sit up as well and we all turn to face each other in our little circle. "Can you see it Wes?"

Wesley looks at him and then at me. I can see the question in his eyes. I don't have to read his mind to know what he is thinking. I nod my head and grab his hand. I squeeze it to give him strength to tell Jean-Luc what we found out. "Last term, Kat and I were taking a Genetics course. For part of the course we have to take our DNA and match it with our parent's DNA. It's a good place to start because we already know our DNA would match our parent's. Well in my case it turned out to not be true. My DNA matched thirteen alleles from my mother but none from my father. Kat and I got to talking about it and she started asking questions about my childhood and who my mother's friends were. When I mentioned how close you and her are she figured out how to get your DNA and ran it with mine. We found that thirteen alleles matched meaning you are my biological father. Kat confronted mother about it when she came onboard back in September. Mother didn't deny it, she only asked that we not say anything to you. And we didn't. You asked us."

They sat there staring at each other for a while, both lost in their own thoughts. I just sat there picking at the grass waiting for one of them to say something, anything that would let the other know what they were feeling. I could feel what they felt. Wesley was relieved that he had finally been able to talk to Jean-Luc about his findings. Relieved that he didn't have to hid it anymore. He wanted to get to know Jean-Luc as his father and not his Captain.

Jean-Luc was slightly confused but also felt hurt because Beverly never told him. He would have been there for her and Wesley. He now understood why he always felt protective of Wesley. And why he felt he had to be hard on him sometimes to get him to do what is right.

"Wesley, if I had known, I would have been there for you."

"It's ok. It's not your fault she never told you. She never told me either. At least now I know why I felt the need to make you proud of me."

They both laugh. "And I have always felt protective over you Wes. First thing, we help your mother figure out how to reverse this, second, we have some father/son bonding time. I know quite a bit about you but I want to spend more time with you whenever possible. We can go horseback riding again, we can read ancient texts, go to dig sites, anything you want to."

Awe this is so sweet. I can only hope that I get this chance with my own father.

Our little bit of fun gets interrupted by my father walking onto the holodeck. "Katharyn, Wesley, Captain it's getting late. Katharyn, you and Wesley need to return to your respective quarters for the night. The three of you can play together tomorrow."

I smile at his choice of words. They didn't bother me or Wesley but Jean-Luc wasn't very happy at the choice of words but he politely ignores them. He looks to the both of us. "Good night, Kat, Wes. See you both after breakfast. Wes, could you let your mother know that I still want to see her at breakfast?"

"Yes, I can."

I watch as Jean-Luc walks off to his quarters. I turn to Wesley. "Good night Wes." _"I love you."_

He smiles. "Good night, Kat." _"I love you too."_

I smile and start walking off. My father shakes his head and follows me to my mother's quarters while Wes goes to his.


	13. Chapter 4b

**Thanks to my reviewers! I love that you are all enjoying the story. I almost didn't write anything today. I got some upsetting news. But I decided that I would write some so I could get my mind off of things.**

 **In this section,Katharyn experiences anger for the first time and she isn't sure how to handle it so at first she keeps it inside.**

 **Enjoy!**

 _ **I'm sitting here confused,**_

 _ **I don't know what to do.**_

 _ **I'm experiencing new feelings,**_

 _ **I'm afraid of hurting you.**_

 _ **So please take my hand in yours**_

 _ **and guide me down this path,**_

 _ **teach me how to handle my anger**_

 _ **so we don't have to deal with the aftermath.**_

I watch as my daughter tells her boyfriend goodnight. I softly laugh, my daughter, I never expected that I would have a daughter. Just seven months ago I never knew she existed. Now, we are dealing with her going from being an adult to being a child again. I have gathered that she isn't too happy about her situation but she seems to be making the best out of a difficult situation. I just had to get her off the holodeck where she was spending time with Wesley and Jean-Luc. I watch her walk off to head to her mother's quarters. I can see a bit of attitude in her walk. I hope Doctor Crusher can reverse what ever happened of I might go insane having a teenage daughter with her mother's attitude to deal with.

"Katharyn, slow down and wait for me."

She stops and turns to me with arms crossed over her chest, just like Deanna does. "Why? Aren't you following me to mother's quarters? You don't have to walk right beside me."

When I catch up to her, we start walking side by side. "I want to walk with you, not behind you. Kat, your mother and I see this a being given a second chance. For now, we get the opportunity to be your parents. We never got that chance before. I will try not to be overbearing but I will enforce the rules when needed."

"So don't break the rules and I won't get into trouble, right?" she says to me.

I smile at her, "That's right, Kat."

We arrive at Deanna's quarters and I push the door chime.

"Enter." We hear her disembodied voice say.

We both walk in. Kat walks over to the couch and plops down on it and crosses her arms across her chest. I wonder if that is a defiant measure or if it's for comfort?

"You know this is the first time in almost a year that I have slept alone. It sucks."

"Katharyn, I know this is difficult for you but there are some changes you will have to deal with until Doctor Crusher can figure out how to fix this." Deanna tells her as she walks over and sits on the couch. I watch as she puts her arm around our daughter and holds her.

"What if she can't? What will I do? How will I finish the Academy?"

Deanna looks up to me, her eyes asking for help. I walk over to the couch and kneel down in front of them. I grab my daughter's hands, "Kat, look at me." I wait until she looks at me, "You can stay here with us. And I am sure that after we explain things to the Admiral, you can attend all of your classes from here over the computer. We can get it all figured out. But for now, let's take everything one day at a time. Why don't you get ready for bed while I talk with your mother?"

"I don't have any clothes that fit."

"I have replicated some for you. They are on the counter in the bathroom. Go take a hot shower, you will feel better and sleep better." Deanna tells her. We both watch as she gets up and goes into the bathroom.

I get up from my kneeling position and sit down next to Deanna. I put my arm around her and pull her close, placing a kiss on her head. "Deanna, what will we do?"

"What do you mean, Will? We will do like every other parent. We will adjust. We have it a little easier, she's ten with an adult mentality. We won't have to adjust our schedules too much."

"There is that. But what about the living arrangements? We have different quarters. Neither one big enough for a second person. Do you really think she is going to want to go between both sets of quarters just to spend time with us?"

"Don't worry, Will. Tomorrow I am temporarily moving to bigger quarters. If this can't be fixed, they will be permanent. If you want, you can sleep there with us. I won't complain. I enjoy your company." She turns in my arms so she could face me. She then starts to lean in and I lean in as well. Our lips meet in the middle and we kiss, deeply.

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I get up from the couch and walk to the bathroom. I see the clothes my mother was talking about. I turn on the water as hot as I can stand it and get in. My mother is right. The water does help. I let the water run over my head while I think about the day. I have been turned in to a ten-year-old. I am not allowed to have the usual relations with my fiancée and I am stuck with my parents. Actually, that might not be so bad. No more responsibilities other than following their rules. I could do that. Now, sleeping on the couch is going to suck but at least it's not a huge bed. I don't think I can sleep alone easily. Since I started sleeping with Wes, I don't have nightmares anymore, he seemed to keep them at bay. Oh, well I will deal with things as they come. My new motto, one day at a time.

I finish my shower and get out. I am ready to get some sleep now. After I get dressed I walk out of the bathroom only to see my parents sitting together on the couch kissing. I smile wondering if I should to the kid thing and interrupt or if I should just leave them be. I decide to just let them be. I don't know how often they give into their feelings for each other. I decide to walk around mom's quarters, looking at everything she has. I see a few pictures. One of my mother and I am assuming her father, one of her, her mother and father and one of both of my parents. My mother is wearing a lavender dress that is off one shoulder. She is sitting beside my father who is wearing a blue shirt that brings out his eyes and black pants. They are facing each other. My father is holding something green out to my mother. He is smiling at her and I can see the love for her in his eyes.

I look back to the couch and see that they are still lost in each other, so I decide to continue walking around. I walk over to her desk. I can see her computer on one side and another picture. I pick up the picture so I can look at it. I notice that it is a picture of me. When did she get this? It is one of me at the Academy, one where I am wearing my cadet uniform. I am pretty sure that Wesley took this one. I wonder if he sent it to his mother to give to mine? I never thought about giving them one when I first met them.

Placing the picture back down, I sit in her chair and prop my head on my hand with my elbow resting on the desktop. I am getting bored and tired, a bad combination for me.

While sitting this way, I watch my parents. I wonder if my friend Chelsea ever felt irritated about being ignored when Wes and I would do this. I will have to remember to not do that in front of her, I hate being ignored and that's what we would do to her.

Seriously! I drop my head to the desktop, rather loudly, and extend my arms out in front of me on the desktop. Well that didn't get their attention. Can they really be so absorbed in themselves that they would forget about me? I can't believe this. I feel myself getting angry at my parents for forgetting about me. This is new for me. I have never experienced something like this. I don't think I like the feeling, but I can't seem to calm myself down. I can feel the anger building and I feel the need to express it but I also don't think that I should. Ugh! This is so confusing, and my parents won't take notice and help me. I want to tell them, to make them pay attention to me but I also want to let them have their time. I decide to keep it all in and ignore everything. Maybe if I do this, it will just go away.

I lift my head up to look at them and I notice something weird. My hands and arms are glowing gold. It looks like a gold light of some sort is flowing under the surface of my skin. The only other time I have seen this light was when I travelled through the Vortex with a future version of Wesley. And then it hits me, there was another time I saw this. The last time I was this age, I had been trying to get away from a big cat that was chasing me. I was getting scared because I couldn't get away. I was finally cornered with a cliff face behind me and the cat in front. It started pacing back and forth in front of me. Right before the cat jumped at me, my skin started glowing gold. I held my hands out in front of me, surprised and worried. When the cat jumped, I brought my hands in front of my face in reflex and the energy shot out of them and hit the cat causing it to disappear.

This time however, I wasn't scared, I was angry. I jumped up real fast causing the chair to hit the wall behind me loudly and run back to the bathroom to hide.

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Will and I jerk apart when we hear a loud noise. I look over to my desk and see Kat running from behind it to the bathroom. I think I see her skin glowing but I am not sure. I look over to Will and stand up. "I am going to go check on her. Can you get a pillow and blanket for her?"

"Sure." He goes to get what I requested and I go to the bathroom.

I knock on the door. "Katharyn, sweetie, can you come out here please?"

"No, I can't. I don't want to hurt anyone."

"I don't understand. What do you mean? Is it because of your glowing skin?"

"Yes, the last time this happened, I killed an animal."

I can hear the tears in her voice, I can feel her upset and I can feel anger. Anger at Will and I for ignoring her for so long. Anger with herself because she feels angry at us. I can sense that she has never felt like this and is confused that she feels like this. She doesn't know how to handle this raw emotion. I sigh when I realize that we are part of the problem.

Will walks up behind me, "Is she ok?"

"She is angry at us for ignoring her for so long and she is angry at herself for feeling angry at us. She doesn't know how to process her feelings since she has never really felt like this before. We are going to have to let her know that it's ok to feel this way. We will also have to teach her how to deal with this feeling even if everything gets fixed. She has never experienced anger herself before. Holding it in has also caused a reaction that has her afraid that she will hurt us. I noticed her skin glowing when she ran to the bathroom. I don't know what is causing it but she said the last time this happened, she killed a cat."

"Kat, please come out here. We can help you. I don't believe you will hurt us." Will says through the door, trying to coax her to come out.

Finally, she opens the door and comes out. I look at her and see her tear stained face. The golden is almost gone. It just looks like energy dancing under the surface of her skin.

I hold open my arms and she comes into them so I can hug her. I release her just enough so we can walk over to the couch. I sit down and have her sit on my lap. I put my arms around her and hold her. _"It will be ok, Little One. Your father and I are here for you and will help you. It is ok to feel anger but you need to talk about it. Let us know if we are making you angry and we will talk about it. Don't hold it in. If you feel you need to hit something or through something let us know and we will take you to the holodeck and show you something you can do to help with the anger. Ok?"_

 _"_ _Yes ma'am. I am sorry. I love you mommy."_

I smile and kiss her on her head. I look over to Will and see the question in his eyes. I know he sees the tears in my eyes. I shake my head slightly, signaling to him that I will tell him later. I look down to Katharyn and see her eyes are closed. I sit there just holding her, stroking her hair and rubbing soothing circles on her back with my hand. I feel her relax and her breathing slow. I can tell she is now asleep and I notice the golden glow is gone. I motion to Will to help me lay her down on the couch, which requires me to move. He picks her up from my lap. I stand up and he lays her down on the couch. Covering her up, he places a kiss on her forehead.

"Sweet dreams, Little Kat. I love you." He whispers to her.

I hold my hand out to him. "I am tired. Would you like to stay here tonight? I have a feeling she might have a restless night. She's been through a lot today."

Will smiles and me and pulls me close, "Sure, Deanna. I can stay here tonight."

I lean into him and then pull back. Taking his hand, I lead him to my bedroom. I pull one of his shirts and a pair of pants out of my dresser and toss it to him so he can get more comfortable. I change into something to sleep in as well. After we have both changed, we climb under the covers and lay down my back to his front in a spoon fashion. I relax again Will and we both fall into a deep sleep.

 **I hope you enjoyed that. The poem at the beginning fits with how Kat was feeling in this section. Oh, and I came up with that poem in ten minutes, just for this chapter.**

 **Let me know what you think!**


	14. Chapter 4c

**_Here is the conclusion to chapter 4. Hope you like it!_**

 _"_ _Sara! Sara! Where are you? Please someone help me! I can't find my way home." I am seven years old again. I had followed one the older girls into the woods. That was a bad idea. I lost sight of her and got lost._

 _I keep running in the direction I think the village is, but I can't find it. I am crying and screaming for Sara to find me and help me. But she never comes. It's just like my daddy all over again. He never came back for me either. I am all alone._

 _The sky is getting darker and I can no longer scream. I have no voice left to scream with. I have no more tears left to shed, yet I still cry. I stop and stand in one spot, turning in circles I try to get my bearings. I slump down to the ground scared of the shadows I see and the strange sounds around me. I look up and see the stars and start crying out for my father._

"Daddy! Daddy! Please come back for me. Daddy, I need you. Don't you love me enough to come back for me?"

"Katharyn. Wake up baby. You're having a bad dream."

I feel myself being shaken and can hear my father's voice. "Come on sweetie. Wake up." I feel myself being shifted. I am now being held by my father as he tries to wake me up.

I finally and released from my bad dream and can open my eyes. I can feel moisture on my face and I assume that I had been crying in my sleep. "Daddy?"

He looks down and me and kisses my forehead. Wiping the tears off my face he answers, "Yes, Kat. I am here and I won't ever leave you. Do you want to talk about your dream?"

I shake my head no. I don't want to talk about it yet. "Where is Mommy?" I ask him, snuggling in to his chest.

"I'm right here, Little One. Here, have some warm milk. It will help you relax."

I take it and look at it for a second. My mother senses my hesitation and takes the cup back.

"Would you like chocolate instead? I always prefer chocolate."

"Deanna, you like everything chocolate."

I give her a small smile. "No, this is fine. I am not a huge fan of chocolate." I take the cup back and drink some. The warm milk, warms me up. I had not realized I had gotten cold. I shiver some and curl into my father more.

He grabs my blanket that had fallen on the floor and wraps it around me. I snuggle under it against him and finish the warm milk. My father takes the empty cup from me.

"Alright, Little Kat, are you ready to tell us about your dream."

I look up at him, startled by the nickname. I barely remember the last time he called me that. I had to be very young. It was before they died. "I think I am ready."

"Go ahead, Little One." My mother says sitting down next to Daddy and I.

"I dreamed about something that had happened when I was seven. I had followed one of the older girls into the woods one afternoon. I lost her and couldn't find my way back to the village. I kept calling out for her but she never came back for me. Finally, it got dark and I found myself in a small clearing, much like the one on the holodeck that Wes, Jean-Luc and I were in. I ended up on the ground and when I looked up and saw the stars, I started yelling for you, Daddy. I was upset that you never came back for me. Of course, I understand now why you didn't but back then I didn't. I had forgotten about my visit from the Traveler when he explained why you didn't and couldn't come back."

"Kat, that hasn't happened for me yet. You keep telling us that we can't go looking for you and that when I see you as a small child, I have to leave you there. But I can see how much that action hurt you. How am I supposed to leave young you there when I know what it does to you?"

I look up to him. "Because if you go back for me, I won't become the person I have become. I won't meet Wesley as a seventeen-year-old. He will be too old for me and it will unravel our whole timeline and possibly many more. I still don't know what it is Wesley and I will do."

I start to feel frustrated. I can feel my hands tense up and my breathing quicken.

My mother puts her hand on my arm. "Little One, calm down. Take a deep breath in and slowly let it out."

I do as she says, feeling much calmer afterwards.

"Kat, look at me." I look back to my father. "We are not going to leave you now. You're stuck with us now. It doesn't matter if you are an adult or if you end up staying a child."

I nod and cuddle back into his chest. I feel myself relax more and I drift off to sleep. Feeling safe and secure in my father's arms.

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I feel Katharyn's breathing even out as she falls back to sleep in my arms. I look over to Deanna and reach for her hand. "Can you tell how she is feeling? Was I able to convince her that we aren't going to leave?"

Deanna takes my hand and squeezes it. "She wants to believe it, but it's hard for her. She has spent so much time alone, she thinks that if she relaxes too much, slows too much to enjoy everything then she will lose everything. We need to continue to show her and tell her that we won't disappear if she enjoys herself and her time with us."

"I understand."

I look back down to Kat. I am still not sure what I think about all of this. Having a daughter, having to ensure her that I won't leave her like I have or will. I felt her fear when she had that bad dream. I could hear her calling for me both in my head and out loud.

I feel myself start to drift off back to sleep.

"Will, lay her back down. Let's go back to bed."

I lay her back on the couch and stand up. Covering her up, I lean over and kiss her on her head. "Deanna, I could feel her fear. I could hear her calling for me in my head like I can sometimes hear you when you project at me. How is that possible?"

She takes my hand and leads me back to the room. "We are already forming a bond with her. Our minds recognize her as our daughter and that causes the mother/daughter, father/daughter bond that all parents have with their offspring. Make sense?"

I lay down and pull her down next to me and hold her. "Yes, I think it does. Now let's go back to sleep. Good night Deanna."

"Good night, Will."

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After telling Katharyn and Jean-Luc bye and goodnight, I head to my mother's quarters. Walking in I see my mother sitting on the couch drinking one of her herbal teas.

"Hey Wes. I was wondering where you had gotten off too. The last time I saw you, you, Katharyn and Guinan were running out of Sickbay playing tag. The Commander came in shortly after you three left and said he ran in Katharyn. Where did you go after?"

"We went to get Jean-Luc so we could go horseback riding."

"Jean-Luc, huh? When did you start calling him that?"

"Well I guess I could call him dad. But I started calling him that today since he is no longer Captain right now."

"Did you three go horseback riding?"

"Yep. And then we all laid in a clearing on the holodeck and looked at the clouds. After that, we talked until the Commander came and told us it was time to go back to our quarters."

"Well, as long as you had a good time. I know it is difficult being a child again, but you seem to be making the best of it."

I walk over to her and sit down next to her. "It's ok. I don't really care for being a kid again, it was awkward enough the first time around. And now it's more so because I am used to being with Kat every night and now I can't. Do you have any ideas on how to fix us?"

She pats my leg, "Not yet. I am working on it. It will all work out. It's getting late, why don't you get ready for bed?"

"Fine." I get up and head to my room.

I get changed for bed and lay down. I'm too awake to sleep, so I lay there and think about the day. It had started out great. Kat and I were digging up clay pots and taking jabs at each other. Then we run into the Captain and he invites us on the Enterprise. On the way to the Enterprise we get caught in a vortex and when the Enterprise beams us on board, we are turned into kids. I got to spend some time with my father even though we are the same age. I never knew how much I look like my dad until today. It's awesome. I thought my dad had died when I was five but the guy that died wasn't my biological dad. I found out that the Captain is actually my dad. It explains why I have always felt the way I have towards him. I have always felt I needed to impress him, make him proud of me.

I start feeling agitated. I clear my mind and focus to see who it is. It's Kat. She is angry about something but I don't know what. I consider heading to the counselor's quarters to see what is going on but think better of it because of our current age. Her parents can help her. I just send calming thoughts to her.

I fall asleep at some point only to wake up from a strong sense of fear coming from Kat. I don't know what is wrong with her but it is enough to wake me up. I start to get out of bed so I can go to her but stop. I can't go to her, it's no longer appropriate for me to help her. I know she had nightmares before we started sleeping together. Sleeping together has helped her but neither one of us knew how much until tonight. I am fighting every instinct I have to not go to her. Instead I send calming thoughts hoping that I can get through to her. I finally feel her calming down and she eventually goes back to sleep, I follow soon after.

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I open my eyes and see stars. I sit up and then remember where I am. I am on the Enterprise with my parents and Wesley and I am a kid again. I sigh and lay back down again. Darn, I had hoped this would all be a dream. This is insane. I think back to last night. My anger episode and what I had learned from my parents on how they will never just up and leave me. I also remember my nightmare. I shiver at the reminder. And then I smile. I smile because my parents woke up and came to me. They woke me up and calmed me down just like they did when I got angry. I also vaguely remember feeling Wesley. I know he wasn't here but I could feel calming thoughts coming from him. It's nice to know that he can still feel me and still send me thoughts at this distance.

I decide to send him thoughts to see if he can hear me. _Wes, can you hear me?_ I wait for a response. _Wesley._ I send again with a mental nudge. I finally feel him waking up.

 _Seriously, Kat. I was asleep._

I laugh out loud at his sleepy response. _I know but you still love me. It's time to get up. I don't want to wait all day to see you. Go eat breakfast so we can meet up._

He sighs mentally and I can tell he gets up. _Fine, Kat. I'm up, I'm up._

I snicker, _Are you really?_

 _Seriously, Kat. Is that all you think about?_

 _No, I think about other things. Like right now I am going to go annoyingly wake up my parents and then eat breakfast. See ya later, Wes. Love you!_

After my conversation with him I get up and quietly walk to my parents' room, well my mother's room. I can see my dad holding my mother and they are still asleep. I climb on the bed as easily as possible and wedge myself between them. They move to make room for me. My mother turns over to face my way in her sleep and my dad wraps his arms around me. They never wake up. I smile again and snuggle into my dad feeling safe.

I guess I dozed off between them because the next thing I know, my mother is waking me up. "Wake up Little One."

I open my eyes and look at her. "Morning."

"Morning. When did you come in here?"

"Well I woke up and decided to come in here and wake you two up, only my plan backfired when daddy started to hold me and you turned to me in your sleep. I decide to just enjoy the safety I felt for a little bit but I fell back asleep."

"Well, I am glad I make you feel safe Little Kat."

I turn onto my back so I can look up at my father. "You used to call me that when I was a baby. I can barely remember it."

"I think I know why I called you that. When you snuggle up to me it reminds me of a cat."

He reaches down and starts to tickle me. I squirm and laugh. My mother joins in and I am completely at their mercy. I can't get away because I am between them and they are both getting me.

Still laughing I try to turn the table, "Daddy, tickle Mommy!" He starts tickling her and I join in. After a few minutes all three of us are laughing. I start to tickle daddy and he tries to roll away only he falls off the bed which gets us all laughing harder.

"Are you ok Will?" Mom asks him still laughing.

"Yes, I am fine. I didn't realize I was that close to the edge."

"Doctor Crusher to Commander Riker." We hear over the comm system.

"Riker here."

"Commander could you please come to Sickbay?"

"Yes. Give me a few minutes and I will be on my way."

He looks to me. "Sorry, Kat. Duty calls." He kisses me on the head and then leans over and kisses my mother. "I will see you later."

I walk out of the room so they can both get ready. When they are done, I get myself dressed for the day.

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"Do you think your mom will be able to fix us, Wes?" I ask as we climb a tree. Wesley, Jean-Luc and I are back on the holodeck. This time we are climbing trees in the forest we were in yesterday.

"Maybe."

"I hope she can. I can't wait to be back in my Captain's chair. While I like this second chance, I am growing tired of it." Jean-Luc says as we continue to climb.

"I am enjoying this some. I enjoy being able to be with my parents but there are other aspects of life that I have gown to enjoy that I can't do anymore. Like no rules, being able to stay up late and other things." I tell them both. I look down to them, "Can't you two climb any faster?" I sit on my limb and look out. I can see everything from here. It is a beautiful site. I feel my branch move some and look over to see Wesley finally joining me. He stops and looks out the way I was.

"Wow." He says.

"I know."

Jean-Luc finally makes it up on my other side. "The view is breathtaking."

Suddenly, we fell the ship jerk and the red alert comes on. We look at each other and then start making our way back down as quickly as we can with the ship jerking as it gets hit. As I get closer to the ground I look down and see that Wes and Jean-Luc are already on the ground waiting for me. I extend my leg down at the same time the ship gets hit again and I lose my hold. This causes me to fall straight to the ground. Wesley catches me in his arms and falls to the ground under my weight. This keeps me from getting hurt too much but with the way I fell and was caught, my arm still ends up under us and I feel it snap. I see spots as the pain radiates up my arm. I feel like I am going to be sick so I turn to face the grass and hope I don't throw up on the boys. While I am throwing up my breakfast, I feel someone grab my hair and I feel soothing circles on my back. When I am finished, I wipe my arm across my mouth and sit up, cradling my arm with my other arm and hand. I notice that Jean-Luc was the one to grab my hair to keep it out of my sick.

"Other than your arm being obviously broken, are you alright? Is anything else hurt?" Jean-Luc asks me.

I take mental stock of my body and shake my head no. "There doesn't seem to be any other damage other than my arm. I have never broken anything before. The pain made me sick."

"You aren't the only one pale and sick from your experience." He tells me nodding to Wesley.

I look over to Wes and see his pale face glistening with sweat. I forgot he could feel my pain. "Sorry, Wes." I say as I block him from my pain.

"It's ok Kat. It happens. Let's get you to Sickbay so my mother can get your arm fixed."

I nod and allow both of them to help me up. Both boys are careful of my arm. I refuse to look at it knowing that the bone broke the skin and the sight of my bone sticking out and my blood will cause me to pass out.

They try to keep me talking on the way and try to keep my mind off of my arm. All I can do is grit my teeth as my arm gets jostled while we walk.

"Sorry." Wes tells me.

"It's ok. You can't help it."

We finally make it to Sickbay. Doctor Crusher runs up to us. "What happened?"

"We were climbing a tree when the ship was hit. We made it to the bottom but Kat was still about six to eight feet off the ground when she got knocked to the ground. Wes caught her but fell. Her arm still ended up under them and it snapped."

"Sit up here. Kat. Let me see."

She takes my arm and extends it. I look at Wesley and focus on him so I can't see my arm. I try not to think about the pain that almost makes me pass out.

"Breath, Kat. It will all be over in a moment." Doctor Crusher tells me as she heals my arm.

"I just can't stand the pain and I can't look at my arm. I have found out that I pass out if I see too much blood so I can only imagine what would happen if I saw the bone."

"Well the bone can't be seen anymore and it's all better now."

I look over at her and she smiles. She nods her head towards my arm and I peak down at it. When I see that it is better, I look down at it completely. "Thanks, Doctor."

"No, problem, Kat. You three just stay out of the trees until we figure out what happened and make sure it doesn't happen again."

I hop down off the exam table and the three of us start to head out of Sickbay. As we reach the door, five Ferengi come in. When they see us, two of them grab us and walk us out. Before the door closes I see the others get rounded up the rest of the people in Sickbay.

They walk us down to one of the school rooms. They throw us into the room and then leave.

"I am so tired of ending up on the ground today." I say as I stand up. Wesley walks over to me and makes sure that I am ok before going over to Jean-Luc.

"Is everyone alright?" He asks everyone.

I look over and see Ensign Ro, Guinan and Keiko.

Ensign Ro speaks up, "No fatalities or injuries among the children. The Ferengi have taken control of main engineering and decks twenty-three through thirty-seven."

"We have to assume they have also taken the bridge." The Captain replies.

"Captain, do you know what they have done with the younger children? My little girl?"

"Keiko," I say placing a hand on her shoulder, "It seems they are taking the adults down to the surface. It looks like they are keeping all the children on board the ship. Where was Molly?"

"She was in primary care on deck fourteen." She tells us.

"She's probably still there with the others. I wouldn't worry. We need to regain control of the ship. Options?" The Captain says to all of us.

"We could flood the ship with anesthizine gas." Ensign Ro offers.

I shake my head. "No, that's been locked out with the rest of the command functions. Looks like my father locked everything out when the Ferengi came aboard."

Ro looks at me and rolls her eyes. "Well if they are typical Ferengi, they are probably celebrating and getting over confident. They think they have control of the ship."

The Captain nods his head in agreement. "Agreed. They might think that they don't need as many to hold the ship. We could use the element of surprise to give us a tactical advantage."

Guinan looks at the Captain. "Tactical advantage? Jean-Luc, look around you. We are all children."

He gets frustrated, "Well we can't just sit here while the ship is being commandeered."

"Jean-Luc, Guinan isn't suggesting we do. We are all children. Why don't we start acting like them?" I say to him.

Jean-Luc walks over to a computer and we follow him. I look at the screen and see fish. Ugh, I hate fish and the sound of the voice is annoying. How do kids stand listening to this?

I hear the computer, _Hello, I am the classroom computer system. What can I do for you today?_

Jean-Luc sits down in front of it and I stand over to one side while Guinan is on his other side and Wesley behind him. "Computer, display interior security grid."

 _I'm sorry. I can't do that. Would you like to play a game?"_

"No, I would not. Computer, display an internal schematic diagram."

 _I'm sorry but I can't do that. Would you like to see some interesting plants or animals?_

Jean-Luc starts to get frustrated with the computer. He looks like he wants to hit the screen. Guinan puts her hand on his shoulder, "Jean-Luc, it's a children's computer, remember? Computer, can you show me a picture of the inside of the Enterprise?"

 _Yes, I can. The Enterprise is a galaxy class starship. Do you know how to spell Enterprise? E-N-T…_

Jean-Luc sighs, "Delete audio." The computer goes quiet and I let out a breath. I am so glad he silenced the computer, I was getting frustrated with it myself. "All right. This will have to do. We are here." He points to where we are on the diagram. "There is a service conduit that runs to here and then leads to a Jefferies tube here." We follow his finger as he points to each spot. "Guinan, you and Ensign Ro will still have to cross this corridor before you can get to main Engineering."

"Captain." I look up at Keiko calls the Captain. She has found a hatch that leads to the Jefferies tube.

He gets up and walks over to it, "Perfect." He looks to Guinan and Ro. "Ready?" They nod yes. "Make it so." They climb into the crawlway.

"What the devil?" I hear Jean-Luc say. I look over and see that Alexander's radio controlled vehicle has hit him in the leg.

"I was just playing, sit. I'm sorry." Alexander says as he picks up the toy.

I watch as Jean-Luc walks over to Alexander, "Alexander, would you mind if I borrowed that for a while?"

Alexander nods and hands the control over. "Sure."

"Thanks." He says as he takes the control.

I watch as he places the toy into the crawlway and motions for Keiko to step in. They crawl off. I look over to Wesley. "I have an idea. Alexander?'

"Yes?" He says as he walks over to me.

"We still need a few things. Can you go to Sickbay and get hypos?"

He smiles at me, "Sure."

"Great. Don't get caught or seen ok?"

He nods and runs off. I look over to Wesley. "If we can get enough hypos, we could sneak up on the Ferengi and get them with it, hopefully knocking them out. I'm not sure what Jean-Luc is planning but I hope it's good."

A little bit later Jean-Luc and Keiko return. Alexander isn't far behind them.

He comes up to me and hands me the hypos. "Mission accomplished. They never saw me."

"Great." I reply taking the hypos.

I look over to Wesley, Keiko and Jean-Luc. "It looks like we are ready. Now how do we get to the Bridge?"

Jean-Luc thinks for a moment. "Katharyn, you could request to see your father and when you get there, get him to turn on the computer in here for us."

I nod and walk over to the door and it opens.

The guard looks down at me, "What do you want?"

"I want to see my daddy. It is very important that I see him."

"Go back inside."

"No, I need to see him right now!"

"Do not argue with me. Go back inside now."

"NO! I need to see him right now! Now! Now! Now! Now! Now!" I yell stomping my feet.

The guard grabs me. "Stop it! You are hurting me! I want my daddy now! I want my Daddy!"

"Alright! Just stop that."

I smile inwardly as he takes me to my father.

We are heading to the observation lounge. As we walk through the door I decide to continue arguing. "Let me go!"

The guard pushes me towards my father. "Here he is. Now be quiet!"

I run into my father's arms. "Daddy!"

"It's ok, Kat. I am here. Are you ok?"

I nod, "I am ok.

"And how are your friends?"

"They are ok too, but…"

He looks down at me with a concerned look. "What's wrong?"

"It's just that we don't have anything to do. The computer won't work. It's so boring in there."

He pats my back soothingly, "I know. The mean Ferengi made Daddy turn off the main computer."

"Can you just turn it on in schoolroom eight? We just want to play some games."

"I don't know if they will let me do that, Kat, but I will try."

"Thank you, Daddy." I say hugging him. "Where's mommy? Is she ok? And Wesley's mommy?"

"As far as I know, they are ok. Now go back to the others. I love you sweetie."

"I love you too Daddy." I let the guard lead me back to the schoolroom.

When I arrive back at the schoolroom, they all surround me. "How did it go? Is he turning on the computers?"

I try to step back; I don't like being surrounded. "Yes, he is going to try to turn it on."

Jean-Luc goes back to the computer and starts putting in commands. "Alright, command lockout has been released. Accessing transporter. Weapons deactivation program is in place. Transporter security field is in place. We are ready."

We all get to our spots and get ready. Everyone has a Ferengi to take care of except me. I am supposed to wait until Jean-Luc gets back and we will go to the Bridge.

They all finally return. "That is all of them except for two. They are on the Bridge. Wait here until Katharyn and I return."

I look over to Wesley. " _I love you. Be back soon."_

 _"_ _You better be. Love you too."_

I follow Jean-Luc to the Bridge. When we get there, we see my dad sitting at the Science station explaining something to the Ferengi. Our arrival distracts the Ferengi and my dad knocks him out. I run over to him and hug him and Jean-Luc goes into his ready room to take care of the one in there.

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We finally regained control of the Enterprise and got rid of all of the Ferengi. The Doctor has finally found a way to turn us back into adults. I am extremely happy that I will be an adult again.

Wesley, Jean-Luc, Guinan, Keiko and I are all in the transporter room. We will go through the transporter one at a time. They are keying in our adult patterns so when we go through the transporter, it will put the key sequences back in, returning us to adults.

I am the last one other than Ro, who is nowhere to be found. I look to the others and then my parents. They all nod to me. I step up onto the transporter pad. I nod to mister O'Brian and he starts the transporter. It seems like it takes forever and I start to get anxious. Before I can panic though, I am back in solid form and as an adult. I smile and step down. "I am so glad that I didn't end up younger." They all laugh and we walk out of the transporter room.

"Katharyn, Wesley, I am sorry that you didn't get to spend your break as you had planned."

Wesley grabs my hand and squeezes it. "It's ok Captain. It wouldn't be a visit to the Enterprise if something didn't happen."

The Captain laughs. "Yes, I agree. Every time you visit something interesting happens."

We walk a little bit in silence. Each lost in our own thoughts.

"Number One, you have the Bridge. Set course for Earth. We have two cadets to return to the Academy as promised. I have a couple of things left to do. Wes, Kat please follow me."

Wesley looks to me and I shrug. _I don't know what he wants._

I look to my parents. "I will see you both in a bit for dinner."

"We will be in my quarters." My mother tells me. I nod and follow Wesley and the Captain.

We both follow the Captain to the holodeck. I look to Wesley and smile. I love the holodeck.

The Captain calls up a program and when the doors open we see three horses and the same forest we have been going to. "I wanted one last horseback ride with the two of you before I fully return to duty. But this time it's as a father with his son and future daughter in law." He smiles at Wesley. "I hope we can spend more time together as a family. I fully intend to talk with your mother about what I have learned."

"I would like that very much, Dad." Wesley smiles at the Captain and the Captain looks like he has tears in his eyes. Wes walks over and gives his father a hug and his father hugs him back.

I turn away smiling, to give them this moment. I know they will be ok. I walk over to my horse, climb on and wait for Wesley and his dad to join us for our last ride.

 **Please review after you read. I want to know what you think!**


	15. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone. I hope your are enjoying this story. I finally reached 50,000 words. I will get things uploaded as I can. I got stuck on this chapter and instead of putting it down, I worked on another chapter for this story and then went back to this one. This one is a hard one both to read and write.**

 **Warning: There is loss in this chapter. Death of an unborn child.**

October 2369

"Kat, what do you want for breakfast?" Wesley yells at me from the front room.

I am still in the bathroom getting ready for the day. We are on break from the Academy and are planning an Alaskan trip. I look at myself in the mirror, the blue maternity top bringing out my eyes and the swell of my baby belly. We hadn't planned on starting a family before we were married nor before we finished at the Academy but, well, things just happened that way. I was excited and scared. I am going to be responsible for another person. Wesley and I will be responsible for this tiny person. Together.

Wesley walks into the bathroom, "Kat? Breakfast?" I look over to him and see his smile. He walks over to me, stands behind me and puts his arms around me with his hands resting over the swell of my belly.

I feel the baby responding to his hands and smile. This child is going to be such a daddy girl or boy. We didn't know what we were having yet. We were going to find out next week at my checkup. We haven't told our families yet, probably should do that soon, I thought. "I don't know what I want to eat. Tea and toast perhaps. Something that won't come back up. I know they call it morning sickness but why does it have to last the whole time?"

He laughs and kisses me on the head before walking out and going to the replicator. He orders my food and then comes back, "I don't know, Kat. You have asked me that just about every week. You should contact my mother and ask her."

"I know. I will contact her next week after my checkup. Then we can tell both sets of grandparents." I walk out of the bathroom to the living room so I can sit at the table and eat.

Wesley sits down next to me, "Remember when we found out?"

 **Flashback**

 _Stretching, I open my eyes and look at Wesley. "Good morning." I say to him._

 _He smiles and kisses me. "Morning." He then starts to run his hand all over my body. I could feel the desire start to develop and then something else._

 _I suddenly jump up and run to the bathroom, barely making it before I empty my stomach into the toilet. Good thing there wasn't much in my stomach at all, just some stomach acid. I stand up and then go over to wash out my mouth, getting the sour taste out. When I am done, I walk back to the bed and climb in next to Wesley._

 _"_ _Are you alright?"_

 _I nod and snuggle into him. "I must be getting sick." He nods in agreement and holds me while I doze._

 _A little while later I wake to the smell of replicated fish, not fresh cooked fish, replicated fish. The smell alone is enough to have me sprinting to the bathroom again. I can't believe this, what is wrong with me?_

 _Wesley comes in to check on me. "Sick again?"_

 _I look up at him and roll my eyes, "No I just wanted to wash my face in the toilet, thought it would make my face softer." He holds his hand up in a surrender fashion and walks backwards slowly to the door._

 _This goes on for a couple of days. I am too stubborn to go see a Doctor. Finally, Wes comes in and picks me up. "Come on Kat."_

 _I start to struggle to get him to put me down, but I am too weak to do so. I haven't been able to keep anything down for a couple of days. "No. Put me down. I'm just sick. I will get better in a few days."_

 _"_ _You said that a couple of days ago and you haven't gotten better. I am taking you too Medical to see a doctor."_

 _I can see it is pointless to refuse, I won't win so I relax in his arms and let him carry me. I don't care about any looks or questions we get; he can take care of it._

 _I must have fallen asleep in his arms because the next thing I know, I am being woke up by a female voice._

 _She is standing next to the table I have apparently been placed on, with a PADD in her hand. "Hello Katharyn, I am Doctor Goen. I am going to ask you a few questions and I need you to answer them for me. When did your symptoms start?"_

 _"_ _Um...two days ago."_

 _She marks something down, "What are your symptoms?"_

 _"_ _Nausea and vomiting." I reply._

 _"_ _Are the symptoms following eating, standing, laying down or when you wake up in the morning?"_

 _I think for a moment, "When I get up in the morning, when I eat and when I smell some foods."_

 _She puts some more things down in the PADD. "Ok so now for the last question and then I will run some tests. When was your last menstrual cycle?"_

 _I think. I count back in my head and then look to Wesley. "Um…well…uh…" I keep opening and closing my mouth like a fish._

 _"_ _I see. Well let's run that test first." She leaves the room to get something and comes back. When she comes back, she scans me and then tells me the results. "Congratulations, you are going to have a baby."_

 _I half smile at what I see on the screen. I can see a tiny peanut shaped blob._

 _"_ _You are eight weeks along. The estimated due date is February 27, 2380."_

 _I hear a thud and look over to where Wesley had been only to see him passed smooth out on the floor._

 **End Flashback**

I start laughing. "Yeah I remember. I still can't believe you passed out. I hope that doesn't happen when this baby is born. You kinda need to be awake for its birth."

"I know. I won't pass out again. Hey, finish eating so we can head to Alaska for vacation! I am ready to go."

I laugh at him and finish my breakfast. "So you have everything packed already? Personal items, clothes, tooth brush. You always forget your toothbrush."

"I have everything packed. Even my toothbrush."

I raise my eyes and eyebrows at him. _"Really? Are you sure you have your toothbrush?"_

He retreats into the bathroom. I know he is going to get it.

"I do now!" I hear him yell. I just shake my head and laugh at him. Sometimes I think he would lose his head if it wasn't attached to his shoulders.

Later that evening we get to our room. We decided to go to Juneau, Alaska to celebrate the two years we have been together. Katharyn has always loved the snow and the cold. I have never cared either way. I grab our bags from the transport and carry them into the cabin. I turn around after setting our bags down and turn to watch Kat enter. I have always loved how her emotions will play across her face. Her face lights up when she enters. Her eyes go from me to the fireplace then to the couch in front of the fireplace. I know she will love to cuddle up on the couch in front of it every night.

She walks over to me and asks, "Where is our room?"

I point down the hall and the gesture for her to follow me. "Our room is at the end of the hall. This door is to the bathroom."

We walk down the hall to the bedroom and walk in. I had already turned the light on so she didn't have too. In the middle of the room there is a huge four post bed made out of Mahogany. The sheets and blankets are a deep blue color. There are two mahogany bedside tables, one on each side of the bed, and a matching dresser on the wall at the foot of the bed. The room has a very comfortable feel to it.

"I love this room. I love the whole cabin, Wesley. Thank you."

I pull her into my arms and kiss her. "You are welcome, Kat." We stood there for a few moments in each other's arms. With her belly pressed against mine, I could feel our little one getting restless. I moved her back just enough so I could get my hand between us and rested it on her. I could still feel our little one moving around. I then knelt down and kissed her belly right over the baby. "Daddy loves you, little one." Standing back up I kiss Kat again. "Shall we go into the kitchen and make something to eat?"

"Sure." She replies, taking my hand.

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"For the last time Wesley, I didn't kiss Michael. He kissed me. I haven't seen or talked to him since we started dating. Why would I start now?" I stormed into our cabin.

It was the last night of our stay and we went out to eat and dance. The place was like a night club of the early twenty-first century. While dancing, Wesley left for a few minutes to go to the restroom. While he was gone, I was approached by an old friend of mine, one I had dated for a few months before Wesley. We had been dancing and then he started talking to me. I couldn't hear him well so I suggested we go out on to the patio. I didn't mean anything by it. We just talked about how we were doing and how things were going back at the Academy. We talked about Wesley and my pregnancy. Before I knew what was happening, he leaned in and kissed me. I pulled back in shock. To say the least, I was stunned. I didn't say anything at first. I heard something and turned toward the sound. There was Wesley, red in the face from anger. He stormed over to us, punched Michael in the face and then grabbed my arm. He started to leave the club pulling me along with him. He didn't let me go until we got back to the cabin.

"You didn't stop him or hit him or anything. You just stood there staring at him. You kissed him. You didn't even react until you saw me standing there."

"You are so vacuous, Wesley. I am engaged to you. I am having your child. Why would I choose Michael? I left him because he was annoying. He only cared about himself and no one else." I am so angry with him. I can't believe that he would be like this. That he could even be like this. I turn and walk to the door. I need to go for a walk.

"Where are you going?" He asks me.

I turn back to look at him, "I am going for a walk so I can cool down before I say something we will both regret." With that I turn back to the door and walk out, closing it behind me.

I look up at the sky as I zip my jacket up. The sun is just going down and it is starting to snow. I pick a direction and start walking. I don't plan on being out long, just long enough so both of us can calm down.

I don't know how long I was actually walking but I decide I should turn back. The snow is starting to fall heavier and visibility is shorter as the snow thickens.

Suddenly, I feel a sharp stabbing pain in my abdomen. The pain causes me to double over. I have no idea what is going on but I fear for the baby. My desire to get back to the cabin intensifies. I need to check on the baby.

After the wave of pain subsides, I manage to stand back up and start to walk back the way I came. The snow is coming down thicker and faster and I quickly lose my bearings. I stop and look around trying to find my way. I see the way I think I had come from and start that way. After about twenty feet I start to slide down. I didn't see the edge of the walkway nor the hill that lead down from the walkway. I fell down the hill, rolling, twisting and turning until I reached the bottom. After I finally stopped, I laid there for a few moments until my head stopped spinning. I tried to get up only to be stopped by intense pain again. I turn on my side and curl around my belly. I can't see much of anything between the snow and the fact that the sun had completely set a while ago. I feel warmth between my legs and when I use my hand to see what it is my hands comes back with something sticky and dark. I smell something coppery and realize that it is blood. Whether from my fall or something else, I know that I am losing my baby. If Wesley can't find me soon, I fear that I will not only lose the baby but maybe my life as well. I am losing too much blood and fast. There must be another injury somewhere that I can't find.

I feel myself starting to get colder and dizzy from the loss of blood. I try to telepathically contact Wesley to help him find me but I don't know if he can sense me.

I start crying. I can't stop. I don't know if Wes can find me. I feel very stupid for acting like I did.

Between the intense pain, overwhelming emotions and blood loss I pass out.

I awaken sometime later to voices. Some I recognize and some I don't. I can hear Wesley calling for me and I call for him telepathically.

 _"_ _Wesley! I am down here. I fell down a hill. You should be able to see the trail. Please hurry. I am losing too much blood."_

 _"_ _I found where you fell, Kat. Hold on, love. We are coming down to get you."_

 _"_ _I am so sorry Wes. I love you."_ After that thought, I pass out again.

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I wake up at Starfleet Medical. I am slightly disoriented and still in a little pain. I look over and see Wesley in a chair. He is leaning over onto the bed with his arms on the bed and his head on his arms. He looks asleep.

I look around me and then take stalk of my body. I focus on the pain to see where it originates from. I feel pain in my head chest and abdomen. I look down at my stomach area and see that it is flatter. Oh, no. I lost the baby. This can't be happening. I start crying. _Wesley? Wesley, can you hear me? Wake up please._

He wakes up and looks at me. "Hey, Kat. Shush, it's ok."

I can see tears on his face and his face is all red. He had been crying as well. He grabs my hand in his and brings it to his mouth and kisses it. "I love you, Kat."

"I love you too, Wesley. What happened with the baby?"

Wesley wraps both hands around my one. He closes his eyes and tips his head back before opening them and looking back at me. I could see fresh tears. "We lost her. The Doctors said that some of her vital organs didn't form correctly so she didn't make it. If I hadn't have heard you when I did, I wouldn't have known that you were hurt and we wouldn't have found you in time. I almost lost you too."

I am in shock. I don't know what to think or say. I don't know how I feel. I am numb. I lost my baby. Was it my fault? Could I have done something different? I have no idea what I did wrong.

"Kat, do you want to see your daughter? They haven't done anything with her body yet because they were waiting to see if you wanted to see her yet."

I look at him unsure of what I want. "I don't know. I guess."

He leaves and comes back a few minutes later. "They will be right in with her."

He sits back down next to my bed and takes my hand again. After a few minutes a Doctor comes in with a little bed. In the bed is my tiny daughter. She is wrapped in a blanket. She is very tiny. I can see her tiny hands and fingers. I unwrap the blanket and see her tiny little feet. She has no hair and she can curl up in my hand. I can see her eyelids but they have no slits, she has a nose and mouth. A photographer comes in and asks if we want any pictures of her. I nod yes and let her take pictures of my baby. She also takes some of us with her, me and her and Wesley and her.

The photographer looks at me and asks, "Did you give her a name?"

I look to Wesley. I still can't think. I am trying to process this still.

Wesley takes my hand, "I named her Freya Jean."

I smile at him. "I like that name. It fits her."

I watch as the photographer writes her name and birthdate down. She then leaves to go process the pictures and give us time to mourn.

I am still holding Freya. Looking down at her I start crying all over again. "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have went on that walk. I should have stayed at the cabin."

Wesley takes her from me and puts her back in the bed. "Kat, it wasn't your fault or my fault. The Doctors said there was nothing we could do."

I nod my head in understanding but I really didn't feel like I did. I could tell Wesley was busy blaming himself just like I was.

The Doctor walks back in. "Are you ready for us to take her now? What would you like us to do? Cremation or burial?"

Wesley looks to me and I just stare. I can't answer that one either.

"Cremation." He tells the Doctor. The Doctor takes Freya and leaves.

 **I hope you guys don't hate me to much after this chapter. The next Chapter will show how they deal with their loss. They each deal in their own way but not how they should. Warning the next chapter will be dark.**


	16. Chapter 6

**Sorry this has taken so long. This chapter was very hard to write. I wanted to get the feelings down right. Not sure if I did, but here it is.**

I had to stay at Medical for another few nights. They wanted to make sure everything was good after my traumatic experience. Everyone kept asking us how we felt, if we needed anything. All I felt was grief and sadness. I felt it was my fault that I lost Freya. I could tell that Wesley felt the same way. The depression was coming off of him in waves, making it very hard for me to process my own feelings.

At home I just went through the motions. Waking up, forcing myself to eat, going to classes and then dinner and bed. I stayed busy so I didn't have to think about how I was feeling, so I could also block Wesley easier. I couldn't handle both of our emotions. Eventually things got a little better. At least Wes and I could spend time together without getting upset. We were even able to start going out to dinner again.

Finishing my assignment, I save and submit it. Sitting back in my chair I link my hands behind my head and look out the window. It's a beautiful clear blue sky with a few white, fluffy clouds floating by. It's one of those clear days where I don't feel like I am drowning. I feel like I can keep my head above water. I'm not filled with grief or sadness. I sit upright when I hear my com beep signaling an incoming message.

"Hello." I say as I answer it. I see Admiral Bran's face on the screen.

"Hello, Kathryn. How are you this afternoon?" he asks. I tilt my head to the side questioning the informal start to the conversation.

"I am doing ok today. I just finished my assignment for creative writing."

"That's good. I have noticed there has been no decline in your grades or late assignments. How are things going with Dr. Grey?"

I lean back again and glance out the window, not really wanting to talk about my counseling sessions that have been going on for 3 months. "Things are fine. I am doing fine right now. Dr. Grey has been very helpful."

"Great. I have something I want to discuss with you. As we both know, your grades are phenomenal. You are ahead of where you should be and are able to graduate this month if you choose. Then, if you desire, you can take a small break before you accept your first post."

I tilt my head back and look out the window and sigh. The offer sounds great, but will it help me? I have a few things to consider before I can give him my answer. "Let me think about it and I will get back to you. I also want to talk to Wesley about it."

He nods, "Very well. Don't take too long. If you decide to graduate this month, there are a few things we need to do. Have a great day."

"Yes, sir. You as well." The screen goes blank as I push my chair back and stand up. I straighten my uniform and walk over to the replicator. "Tea. Earl Gray. Hot." I say. When the tea appears, I pick up the cup and walk over to the couch. I notice the time and realize that Wesley should be back soon.

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I suddenly sit up and look around. I notice it is now dark outside and look at the time. 18:00. Hmmm, I must have fallen asleep waiting for Wes to get back. I pick up my tea cup, stand up and take it to the counter. After setting it down I walk into the bedroom to see if Wesley is in there. The bedroom is just as dark as the living room is. He isn't here. I decide to go for a walk to see if I can find him.

I go a few floors down to my friend Chelsea's room. After knocking I wait for her to open the door. She finally opens the door. "Hey, Kat. How are you doing?" She asks me.

"I'm fine, actually. I've been feeling pretty good until about 15 minutes ago when I realized Wesley wasn't back yet."

Chelsea steps to the side so I can walk in the apartment. "Really? Aaron got back two hours ago. Him and Wesley had class together, so Wesley should be back by now. Has he contacted you? Can you feel him?"

I walk over to the couch and sit down. "He is shutting me out again. I thought we had gotten past that. Things were getting better, we went out last night. We enjoyed ourselves and even enjoyed time together after dinner last night. Last night was the first time we had been intimate since I lost Freya." I feel close to tears. I think Chelsea can tell because she sits down next to me and puts her arm around me trying to make me feel better. "I just don't understand. Why is it always one step forward and two steps back?"

"I don't know, Kat, but you will get through this. Both of you will. You just have to keep breathing and keep going."

"I know. Thanks." We sit there a little bit. I start to feel better again and decide to put Wesley out of my mind. "Speaking of keeping going, I talked to Admiral Bran today."

Chelsea repositioned herself so she could look at me, "Really? What did he have to say?"

"He told me that if I wanted, I could graduate this month. A whole year early!"

"That's wonderful Kat. Are you going to?"

"I am thinking about it. I wanted to talk to Wesley about it and mention it to my parents. They might want to be here for it. That's why I was looking for him."

Chelsea calls out to Aaron, "Hey Aaron, do you know where Wesley was going when you got done today? He hasn't been home yet, and Kat needs to talk to him."

Aaron walks out of their room and into the living area, "I thought he was going straight home, he said he had something to do."

I look from him the Chelsea, "Hmm. Ok. I guess I will go back to our place and see if he is there yet." I tell them bye and then walk out the door. Instead of going back to my place I decide to go get something to eat.

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After dinner I decide to walk around the bay. Sometimes, it helps to have a quiet place to think. I love the relaxing sound of the waves, the cold winter air and the quietness of the night. I walk around until I can find a beach entrance. There aren't that many anymore since most people don't care to walk in the sand. Finding one I take it and walk onto the beach. When I get close to the water I gather my jacket closer to me to ward off the chill. I take a deep breath and then breath out through my nose. As I do so, I imagine my depression and worry flowing out with the breath. I close my eyes for a minute and just listen. I can hear the waves and a few gulls that are still out. Opening my eyes, I look up into the night sky. I still love looking up at the stars. I name the constellations I can find and look at the quarter moon.

I shiver from the cold and look down at my watch, it's 22:00 already. I take one last look at the ocean and then turn to head back to my quarters, hoping Wesley is back so we can talk.

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When I get back to our room, I walk in a notice that the lights are still off. It doesn't look like anyone is here. I take my jacket off and hang it up in the closet. Turning to the kitchen, I get me my favorite tea and then sit down at my desk to look to see if I have any messages. I notice two messages, one from my mother and one from Dr. Crusher. Wesley probably isn't contacting his mom so she is contacting me to see how he is. I choose to listen to the one from Dr. Crusher first:

 _Hello Kathryn. I am contacting you because I haven't heard from Wesley since before you two left on your little vacation. How did it go? What did the two of you do in Alaska? Your mother and father said they haven't heard from you since then either. I hope the two of you are well and will contact us soon. I also hope the two of you will visit soon. I know there is a break coming up after the graduation of this year's cadets. Hope to talk to you soon._

The screen went blank and I clicked on the message from my mother. I knew she was going to say same things as Dr. Crusher did.

(Insert Message here)

After listening to the two messages, I turned off my computer. Looking at my watch I decided it was time for bed, Wesley still hadn't come home yet.As I walked toward the bedroom I noticed that the door was shut. ' _Odd. I don't remember shutting the door. Maybe Wesley came home after all. I didn't think to check the room.'_ I opened the door and looked into the semi-dark room. I could now hear soft noises and movement from with-in the room. As my eyes adjusted to the lack of light in the room I could see Wesley and another woman both naked in my bed having sex.

"What the fuck, Wesley!? What the hell are you thinking and who the hell is she?" They both stop, and Wesley moves over to the side quickly allowing the woman to cover herself. They both stare at me with deer in the headlight looks. I hold up my hand, "You know what? Never mind. I don't want to know. Obviously, you have found another way to deal with the loss of our daughter. I'm done! I'm out!" I take off my engagement ring and put it on the dresser by the door. I really wanted to throw it at him but held back. I turn back through the door, slamming it. I grab my Jacket and my bag with my course work PADDs in it and leave our quarters, slamming that door as well.

I stand in the hallway for a moment trying to catch my breath. I was starting to hyperventilate because I was so angry. _I can't believe he did this to me. I thought we were doing better._ The tears start running down my face. I push away from the door and head to Chelsea and Aaron's quarters. Hopefully they will let me stay there tonight.

When I got to their door I knocked on it and waited. It was already close to midnight, so I figured they would already be in bed. I wiped my eyes hoping to erase the tears and pain. Chelsea opened the door, took one look at me and then hugged me. The gesture made me start crying all over again. "Why? Why would he do this to me?" I knew she didn't know what happened yet, but I still voiced the questions.

"I don't know, sweetie. Why don't you come in? I will get you some tea and we can talk about it." She let me go and led me inside to the couch. Aaron was already walking over with a cup of tea.

I sat down, took the tea and sipped it. I could hear Chelsea and Aaron talking but I wasn't really listening to what they were saying. I just stared ahead of me hoping that I would wake up and this would all be a dream.

The shutting of the front door jolted me, and I focused on Chelsea. I then realized that Aaron was no longer in the room with us. "Where did Aaron go?" I asked Chelsea.

"He went up to your and Wesley's quarter to talk some sense into him."

I chuckle sarcastically, "Good luck with that. He is as stubborn as they come. I caught him having sex with another woman in our bed. The bed that we had sex in last night. We haven't been intimate in 3 months, until last night. I thought that ment we were doing better but I guess I am wrong."

She sits down next to me and puts her arm around me. I lean into her and start crying again. Sometime later I feel Chelsea move. I am half asleep and don't have the energy to wake up completely. I let her lay me over on the couch and feel her cover me with a blanket. I vaguely remember hearing Aaron come back before I fell into a deep sleep.

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The next morning, I wake up to the sun on my face. It takes me a few minutes to remember where I am and why. Then it all comes back. Being told I can graduate early, Wesley not coming home, me going to eat dinner, me returning home and finding him in bed with another woman. I feel numb. I'm not sure if that's the right thing to feel right now or not but I am not going to let it stop me. He obviously doesn't deserve me if he is going to do that to me. It hurts but I can't let that stop me. I get up deciding to take a shower and get ready for my day.

After my shower and breakfast, I head to Admiral Bran's office so I can tell him that I want to graduate at the end of the month. I knock on the door, "Enter," says Admiral Bran.

I open the door and walk in, "Good morning, Admiral. I was wondering if we could talk about what you mentioned to me yesterday?"

"Good morning, Cadet. Yes, we can talk about your plans. How are you today?"

He motions for me to sit at the chair in front of his desk. As I do I ponder his simple question. How am I today? "I am doing ok. The sun is shining."

He seems to accept that answer and continues, "So, have you and Wesley talked? What have you decided."

"We didn't talk. Certain events have come about to make it to where I no longer need to talk to him about my future. However, I have decided to take you up on the offer to graduate at the end of the month."

"I am sorry to hear that about the two of you. I am glad, however, that you have chosen to graduate early. You will need to take your end of term exams this week and your exit exams at the end of next week, so everything can be graded in time for graduation. If you decide not to walk with this year's cadets, that is fine, you don't have too. I can send you your certificates and everything to the Enterprise. I will tell you that Captain Picard contacted me to check up on your course work. I told him what I would be discussing with you. He personally put in a request to have you join the Enterprise crew when you graduate and take your first assignment. When you take the assignment is up to you. I have not told him or anyone about what you and Wesley have been through. That is up to you. I did tell him that you might want a break before taking the assignment and he said he understood."

"Thank you for not telling him. And I would love to be assigned to the Enterprise. It will give me a chance to get to know my parents better. I am planning to spend a couple of weeks on the Enterprise as soon as I am done here. I was going to contact my parents today and get permission. I was also going to secure transport."

"I can secure you transport. I have a good friend who is an Ambassador. She is going to be spending a week on the Enterprise with her daughter. She said you could ride with her."

I nod, "Thank you very much, sir. If that is all, may I be excused so I can start packing somethings and get ready for my final exams?"

"Yes, you are excused, cadet. Good luck on your exams."

I nod one last time, stand up and walk out the door.


	17. Chapter 7a

**Hey, two chapters in one day. Tell me what yall think.**

After all my exams were done, I decided to pack my things. I had been staying with Chelsea and Aaron since I no longer wanted to be around Wesley. I made sure he wasn't going to be around when I needed to be in our quarters to pack. Looking around I could tell that everything was packed, all I needed to do now was make sure my things got transported to the Enterprise. I made sure that everything was together and put labels on the boxes that showed where they needed to go.

I walked over to the replicator, ordered tea and then went to sit at the desk. I hadn't been able to get in touch with my parents yet to let them know I wanted to visit. "Computer, call Counselor Deanna Troi aboard the USS Enterprise-D."

"Counselor Troi is unavailable. Would you like to leave a message?" The voice of the computer answers.

"Yes." I reply.

"Proceed."

"Hey mother. It's me, again. I have been trying to reach you and dad. I had a question for you both. Oh, well. Contact me when you can. Lots of love." I end the transmission and decide to try Wesley's mom or the Captain.

"Computer, call Dr. Beverly Crusher aboard the USS Enterprise-D."

The screen comes on showing Dr. Crusher, "Hello Kathryn. This is a surprise. I expected Wesley to contact me. Is everything ok?"

"Hello Dr. Crusher. Everything is fine, I had tried contacting my parents, but I guess they are busy. I was wanting to see if I could visit? I have a break coming up."

She looks off to the side and says something. I am guessing that she isn't alone. She turns back to me, "That would be fine Kathryn. Will Wesley be joining you?"

I take a deep breath in and let it out as I try to think about what to say. "I don't think so. He is busy with his classes." I have never lied to anyone like this before and it doesn't sit well with me.

I notice Captain Picard come into the view of the computer. "We would love to have you visit even if Wesley doesn't come. I heard that you were graduating early and that you were going to take the assignment on the Enterprise that I am offering."

I smile, "Yes, sir. I have finished all my exams and passed with Distinction. I am all set to graduate. I haven't decided if I am going to walk with this year's class or not. I was told that I didn't have to. I have already secured transport to the Enterprise with someone heading your way. We leave tomorrow. Sorry for the short notice, I had been trying for a couple of weeks to get in touch with my parents."

"That is quite alright. Everyone has been busy, as I am sure you have. I am sorry that we couldn't make it in time for your graduation but if you aren't going to attend then we will have to celebrate when you arrive. Let's keep this between the three of us so we can surprise your parents." The Captain smiled when he said this, and I knew that he would keep the secret.

"Sounds like a plan, sir. I can't wait to get to the Enterprise." We talked for a few more minutes about my visit and graduation party. Suddenly, I hear the door handle turn and I look to the door. I see it open and Wesley walks through. I freeze and just stare at him, wondering what he will do. He finally shuts the door and takes his jacket off.

"Kathryn, what are you doing here?"

I glance to the computer to see what his mother notices. "I need to finish packing my things and when I was done I decided to make a few calls. I am leaving tomorrow for the Enterprise."

Wesley finally noticed who I was talking to and walked over. He leaned down so he was in view of the screen, putting his hands and arms on either side of me so he was surrounding me. "Hello Mother, how are you?"

Dr. Crusher seemed to sense the tension between Wesley and I, but kept it to herself. "Hello, son. I am fine. How are you?"

He considers what to tell his mom. _'What have you told her, Kathryn?'_

I tense at the use of my full name. The ton of his voice daring me to say something I shouldn't. I look up into his eyes, searching. They look dark. It's a look I have only seen when he is very upset or angry with someone. I have never been on the receiving end of the stare before. It was scaring me a bit. _'I have told them nothing and I asked the Admiral to say nothing.'_

"I am fine, mother. We have been busy. Finals were this week and Kathryn was doing her finals and her exit exams. I am excited to announce that she is now an Ensign."

I wonder what he is playing at. He cheated on me and I left him. We haven't spoken nor seen each other in three weeks and he is acting like nothing ever happened between us. I started to say something to his mother but before I could get a syllable out he put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed a bit. Not enough to hurt me but enough to make me stop.

"Mother, Kathryn and I will talk to you later. I will contact you when her transport leaves here." He ended the transmission and steps back. "Why did you call her?"

"I called her because I couldn't get in contact with my parents. I needed someone to know I was going to show up. I didn't tell her anything about what has happened over the last three months." He finally let me feel his feelings. I was hit with a wave of depression. I could feel his anger as well. He isn't in control of his feelings anymore and that makes him angry. His feelings are controlling him. "Wesley, I can't do this anymore. I can barely keep my depression at bay. There is no way I can handle yours too. And on top of that I can sense anger from you. Your tone of voice and the way you squeezed my shoulder, it scares me. I am afraid you will hurt me. Please, deal with your depression. Deal with the loss of our daughter. When you have done that, when you are ready to fight for us, call me. Until then, you know where I will be."

I turn and head to the door to leave. As I reach for the door handle, he grabs my arm tightly and pulls me around to him. I feel and hear a pop. I can feel a slight pain but the anger at being grabbed covers it up. "You will not walk out that door until we talk."

I look down at his hand around my arm and then back to his face. That is going to leave a bruise and I am pretty sure that my wrist is fractured. "You will not tell me what to do. You don't own me, and you are no longer with me. Fix your attitude and then come talk to me. Now, LET ME GO!"

"No! You will stay here so we can talk. I don't know when we will get the chance to talk again."

I can hear the pleading in his voice, but my fight or flight instincts have kicked in and all I care about is getting free of him and leaving. "Wesley, I have tried over the last three months to talk to you. Then, when I think we are good, you go and have sex with another woman in our bed! Our bed, Wesley! In our quarters! How am I supposed to feel about that? I can't talk to you now. I can't even stand to be around you right now. Fix yourself then, maybe, we can fix us. Now, if you don't let me go, you will regret it."

I can see the anger surfacing in his eyes. The grip he has on my arm is tightening, painfully. I can only think of one thing now, getting free. I pull my right arm back, my hand in a fist and then hit him squarely on the left side of his face. I am sure there will be a bruise and possibly an imprint of my ring on his cheek. _Oh, well._ I think as he lets me go. I see his hand go to his cheek and the surprise on his face as I run out the door.

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The next morning, I get up and get ready to leave. My left wrist has a hand shaped bruise on it and is hurting. I should have it looked at, but I am hesitant. If I go, then the Doctors will know that I fought with someone. It doesn't matter who started it or why, we would both get into trouble. I will just worry about it later when I am no longer at Starfleet. My right hand is also a little sore from the contact with Wesley's face. I always knew he was hard headed.

A little while later I arrive at Starfleet Command so I can transport to the Retribution Station to board my transport. I hope that whomever is travelling my way likes to keep to themselves. I'm not really up to much conversation. Walking down the hallway, I stop to look out one of the windows. The view of Earth from here is amazing. I know I am going to miss this view while I am gone, but I also know that I will be visiting new planets.

I get to the transport, the USS Ech'kal. "Permission to come aboard?" I ask the person standing near the door. I am assuming he is the Captain or Pilot.

"Permission granted, Ensign. I am Captain Brady Jennings and I will be your pilot for the next three days."

I shake his extended hand, "Nice to meet you Captain Jennings. I am Ensign Kathryn Riker."

He nods and smiles, "I thought so. I know our other passenger already." He looks past me at someone.

I can hear someone walking toward us and turn just in time to see the woman step on her long dress slightly. This frusterats the woman. She picks up her dress and turns to the person with her. "Mr. Homm, really? Why did you pick this dress knowing I have a hard time with it? You know how much I hate this dress."

Mr. Homm just nods at her and continues to follow her, his hands and arms full of her luggage. I shake my head and glance to Captain Jennings. I can see his smile and can't help smiling myself.

"Does she always carry this much?"

"Yes, she does. I am her pilot and it never ceases to amaze me how much she can bring with her. She is a very interesting woman." Turning to the woman he addresses her, "Good morning Mrs. Troi. How are you?"

I startle at the name. Wait, Mrs. Troi? My mother's last name is Troi. I wonder if there is a relation. I pull my jacket tighter around me and pull up the hood hoping to hide my face some. I also put my walls up, I don't need her reading my thoughts and feelings.

"Hello, Captain Jennings, you handsome devil. I am doing much better now that I see your smiling face." He kisses the back of the hand she holds out. She turns to me, "You can take my things to my room. Wait, you are an interesting person, I can't feel you or hear your thoughts. I can read anyone."

I look to the Captain as he is about to tell her I am just another passenger. I stop him. "Nice to meet you Mrs. Troi, I would love to take your things to your room before I retire to my own." Turning to the Captain, "Are we ready to leave now or are we waiting for more passengers?"

"Ensign, we have everyone aboard. Please make yourself comfortable. It will take us three days to reach the current position of the Enterprise."

As I pick up some of Mrs. Troi's things I glance at her face. She is surprised and a little embarrassed at assuming that I was hired help instead of another passenger. "It's fine, Mrs. Troi. I don't mind helping with what I can carry. Is your aid able to carry what I cannot?"

Again, she is bewildered. She is trying to figure out how I can read her when she can't read me. "Um…yes he can. Actually, you don't have to help at all. Mr. Homm is capable of carrying it all. Why can't I read you?"

I don't immediately answer. I carry her things down the hallway to her room. It is right across from mine. "Here you go." I set her things down in the room and turn back to the door.

She stops me before I can leave. "You look familiar, have I met you before?"

I shake my head no. My hood had fallen off when we were walking so I figured she would ask about me. "We have never met before, Mrs. Troi. You can't read me because I don't want you too." With that I back through the doorway allowing it to close. I turn around a walk to my room. _'It's going to be a long day.'_ I think as I sit down at the chair in my room. I decide to grab my book from my bag and sit back to read it. With any luck I can avoid my grandmother until we get to the Enterprise.

 **Remember to let me know what you think. I am curious.**


	18. Chapter 7b

**I hope everyone is enjoying this story. There is a Warning for this chapter too. This one is all Kathryn and how she is dealing with her emotions/depression now that she doesn't have a way to keep herself busy. There is self harm in this chapter but not suicidal thoughts.**

 **Enjoy!**

I try to concentrate on my book but find the throbbing in my wrist and hand make it hard too. I pull the med-kit out of my bag and get the pain reliever hypo spray out. After setting it to the correct settings, I inject it into my neck. The pain relief is instant. I am then hit with a wave of emotions that I haven't let myself feel in a while. The pain of losing my daughter, the pain and hurt of Wesley cheating on me, comes rushing in now that I have nothing to keep it at bay. I don't have exams and projects to keep me busy, to keep my mind from wondering. Now, all I have is myself for three days. Suddenly, I think this is a bad idea. I should have stayed at the academy where I could keep myself busy enough to forget.

I then think about the here and now. I didn't feel these emotions as strongly when I was in pain. Could that be the key to getting through this period? The pain would help me forget what staying busy helped me forget. Once the pain reliever wears off I am not going to take another one, I don't care how much pain I am in.

I decide to get some lunch since it's about that time. I don't really feel like eating and I definitely don't want to talk to anyone, but food is necessary. Walking into the dining area of the shuttle, I notice that it is empty. I don't know where everyone else is but that's fine with me. I walk over to the replicator, "Tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich." Comfort food at its best. When the food is done replicating, I take it back to my sleeping quarters and sit down to eat it.

After eating I check to see if any communications have been put through to me. There are none, so I try to get back to my book. I am still finding it hard to concentrate on the words in front of me. I feel to numb, to hollow, like there is nothing there. I have no desire to do anything which is a big change from what I had been doing. Dr. Grey was right, I may have started feeling better, but I wasn't dealing with my emotions, I was just burying them. I was keeping myself busy, so I wouldn't have to deal with them and now I had nothing to help burry them except the pain of my wrist and hand when it comes back. Unless I cause myself pain.

I look out the window at the stars passing by, thinking about my new discovery. I could inflict pain on myself and not have to wait until the pain reliever wears off. Then I won't feel so numb anymore and my emotions can be buried behind the physical pain.

I then start thinking of what I can use. A phaser would do too much damage and would notify the Captain. I don't have a knife. I could replicate one but again, the Captain might be notified. It is an unusual request of the replicator. I started thinking about things I already had with me. Ah ha! I have a razor that I use to shave my legs with. It is a triple blade razor, but I can pull them apart.

Now that I had the blade I just needed to figure out where to cut myself. I didn't want it to be anywhere to obvious. I wasn't trying to draw attention to myself, I only want to forget about my numbness and emotions. I always wear long sleeved shirts, so my arms are always covered. I could cut there if I am careful. Same with my legs, except I don't always have easy access to my legs. With my arms I can push up my sleeves, make a cut or two and pull my sleeves back down. I can also use the dermal-regenerator if the cuts need to be hidden better.

I walk over to my bathroom bag and get one of the razors out. I take it apart, keep one of the blades and put the other two in a plastic container in the bag. Taking the single razor, I go sit on my bed. I push up my right sleeve and make a shallow cut on the top of my forearm. I may want the pain, but I didn't need to risk cutting too deep on the underside of my arm and bleed out. I made a second cut, this one a little longer than the first. Then a third, a little deeper than the first two. The pain I was feeling was starting to feel make me feel alive. The numbness was starting to go away, but it wasn't going away fast enough. I walked over to my desk and grabbed the dermal-regenerator from the med-kit. Walking back over to my bed I sat the dermal-regenerator on the table by the bed and sat back down. I grabbed the razor blade again and proceeded to make another cut. This last one was the deepest and longest. It went down my arm, a length of about six inches and it was about half an inch deep. I sighed and relaxed into the pain, letting it take me away from everything. I watch as the blood runs out of my arm and onto my legs. _I am going to have to find a way to explain that or get it out of my pants._ Before I can lose too much blood, I decide to close the cut with the dermal-regenerator. I leave the first two cuts there. As I move my arms, the pain will help keep the numbness away. After the cut is closed, I clean everything up and decide to lay down for a bit.

 _I am running through a dark corridor. It reminds me of the Enterprise except it is dark and empty. I can't tell where I am. The doors have no deck names on them nor do they have crew member names on them. I stop and touch the computer that runs along the wall. 'Computer, which deck am I on?'_

 _'_ _Unable to comply.'_

 _I try again. 'Computer, where am I?'_

 _'_ _Unable to comply. Restate the question.'_

 _The computer frustrates me, and I walk away. I will just have to figure out where I am on my own. I come to another door and stop. This door says Riker, Kathryn. I tilt my head to the side, questiongly. Why does it have my name on it? I open the door and walk through. I see me as a baby with my parents, as a child with Sara and James. I see me alone, growing up on Ganztpeer and when Wesley rescued me. These are my memories. Weird._

 _I leave the room and continue down the corridor. I come up to another door and it says Crusher, Wesley. I decide to go into this room. I might not like everything in here, but I need to see what is in here. I think these are my memories. I enter the room and see that I am right. I see Wesley and I at different points in the relationship we had and even some memories of him that he hasn't had yet. Ones of his future self, bringing me to the Academy. The last one I catch is when I found him in bed with that other woman. This memory makes me angry and I storm out of the room. I don't want to see that one again and I don't want to think about Wesley. As I finish that thought, a solid wall forms over the door. I can no longer enter the room. 'Fine by me. I don't want to see some of those memories anyway.'_

 _I pass many more doors. Doors for my parents, friends, even Dr. Crusher and Captain Picard. I don't go into all of them. I don't want too. I don't even know why I am here. I am supposed to be asleep. 'That's it! I am dreaming.' I try to wake myself up or even change my surroundings, but I can't, so I continue walking. I finally come to another door, this one says Crusher, Freya and it is partially blocked by a brick wall. I put my hands up in front of me and back away. I don't want this door. I don't want to see inside here, I don't want to remember! I turn and run the other way. I keep running, not paying attention to where I am running. I am having a hard time catching my breath and keeping my footing. I keep falling and the last time I just stay down, laying on the floor trying to catch my breath. I can feel the panic setting in. I stand up and try to run again, only to fall to my knees, my rapid breathing causing me to feel dizzy. I fall backwards onto the deck floor again, hitting my head hard on the bulkhead next to me._

I jolt awake when I feel the pain in my head. It takes me a minute to get my bearings. I realize I am on the floor tangled in my blankets. I can feel something moist on the side of my head. I bring my hand up to feel what it is and when I bring my hand back I see blood. _'Well that explains the moist feeling and the pain.'_ I untangle myself from the blankets and head into the bathroom to look at my head. On the side of my face there is a gash that is bleeding pretty well. I grab a small towel and hold it to my head wound. _'I guess I fell off the bed when I was running in my dream and I hit the side of the bedside table on the way down.'_ At least I don't feel numb right now.

I walk back into the bedroom and grab the dermal-regenerator. Walking back into the bathroom to the mirror, I use it to fix the cut. With the cut fixed, but the pain still present, I actually feel better at the moment. Almost as good as when I cut myself earlier in the day.

I walk to the replicator, "Water, cold." The water shows up, I grab the glass and take a long drink. Over at my desk, I set the glass down and look at the time, 01:00. _'Wow, already one in the morning. I slept right through dinner. Wonder why no one tried to wake me?'_

I finish my water, put it in the recycler and decide I could use a few more hours of sleep. I go back to the bedroom, dim the lights and lay back down, hoping that I won't have anymore memory dreams.

 **Tomorrow Kathryn's grandmother will get her to talk some even though she doesn't want too. Let me know what you think please. Read and Review!**


	19. Chapter 7c

**This is the last section of Chapter 7. In this one we see more interaction between Kathryn and Mrs. Troi.**

 _De, de, deet! De, de, deet! Knock, knock, knock! Knock, knock, knock!_ I roll over and look at the ceiling above my head. I hear the knocking again. _'Honestly! Who the hell is knocking instead of using the door chime?'_ I get up and walk over to the door. I push the button to open the door, "What?!"

I see a startled Mrs. Troi. Sighing, "I am sorry. Did you need something? I was asleep."

She seems to regain her composure, "Sleeping? Still? That's all you seemed to be doing yesterday. We will be at the Enterprise tomorrow and I was hoping to get to know you better today. I am bored sitting out here by myself. Come. Eat breakfast with me."

"Mrs. Troi, I really don't feel like socializing. I prefer to spend my time alone."

"Nonsense, child." She says as she grabs my hand and pulls me out of my room. It takes me a minute to realize what she said. The slight pain from her grasp brings me to my senses. I stop and pull my hand out of her grasp.

"I am NOT a child!" I say as I cross my arms across my chest and stomp my foot. I know it is childish and I inwardly cringe as I realize I just played into her hand with my actions.

A brief look of recognition crosses her face, but it is gone before I can figure out if she knows who I am yet.

"No, I suppose not, but you did just act like one. What would you like to eat for breakfast?"

I give in and follow Mrs. Troi to the dining area. "I usually just have fruit for breakfast."

She stares at me, "What kind of breakfast is that? You should have protein."

I raise one eyebrow at her, "Fine. Yogurt and fruit." I sit down at the table while she replicates the food.

She brings the food to the table and sits the fruit, yogurt and a hard-boiled egg in front of me. "What is this?" I ask her. "I didn't ask for an egg. I don't want it."

She walks over to my side of the table and stands next to me, towering over me. "You will eat the egg, fruit and yogurt. You are much to thin and you didn't eat anything yesterday. If you don't start eating while I am around, I will notify the ships counselor and Dr. Crusher to make sure someone makes you eat."

I slouch down in my chair and cross my arms back over my chest. I did not want to give in. I looked back at Mrs. Troi. She had a very stern look on her face that said that she would not be ignored and that I had better do what she says or else.

I uncrossed my arms and grabbed my fork to eat some fruit. She seemed happy and walked back to the other side of the table and to sit down. "Now, sit up while you eat. You are a young lady and should sit right."

I roll my eyes at her and sit up straighter. "Yes, ma'am. Anything else?" I was being sarcastic and didn't expect a reply, but she gave me one anyway.

"Yes, there is something else. You can tell me about yourself."

I take a bite of fruit and sit back in my chair to think. I am not sure what or how much I want to tell her. I know who she is, but I don't want her to know about me yet. My mother made it clear in her last message that she didn't want my grandmother to know about me yet.

"You know, when you did your little childish display earlier, you reminded me of my daughter. She is on the Enterprise serving as ship's counselor. And just now, you look like Commander Riker. The way you are relaxed back in the chair. The look on your face as you think about what you want to say. I would hope that as a Starfleet officer, you won't lie to me and while I can usually tell, you are doing a remarkable job of blocking me. Something that not even my daughter can do. So, are you going to truthfully tell me who you are?"

I take a deep breath as I consider the answer I want to give. I reach for the egg and start to peel it. Looking at Mrs. Troi I start talking. "My name is Kathryn Riker. I am an Ensign and my first assignment is on the Enterprise." I take a bit of the egg as I think about what I want to tell her next.

"Riker? Are you related to William Riker by any chance?"

I take another bite and chew slowly, thoughtfully, as I think about my next words. "I never knew my parents when I was growing up. I was raised by a really nice couple." This wasn't at lie. I didn't know my parents when I was younger, and I was raised by Sara and James. I didn't have to tell her that I know my parents now. I don't know if she noticed that I didn't exactly answer her question, but she doesn't say anything or ask again. "I moved to Earth three years ago where I attended the Starfleet Academy. And now I am moving on to the Enterprise." I finish my egg and move on to my yogurt. "Care to tell me about yourself?"

Mrs. Troi looked at me like she was studying me, trying to figure me out. I could tell it is driving her crazy not being able to read me. "I thought the Academy was a four-year school? How did you graduate a year early?"

I smile at her. Now I see where I get my ability to 'talk in circles' from. "I am very smart and took extra classes. This allowed me to graduate a year early." I finish up my breakfast and push my plate away from me. "So, are you going to answer my question? Who are you?"

"Oh, me? I just a lonely old woman." She finishes up her breakfast as well. I stand and gather our breakfast dishes and take them to the recycler.

"I don't believe that. I don't think you are lonely." I walk over to the replicator, "Tea, Earl Grey, hot." Turning to Mrs. Troi, "Would you like anything?"

"No, I am fine right now."

I sat back down in my chair at the table. "I see before me a strong woman. One that knows who she is and what she wants. You also seem to be very sociable. You didn't even allow me to stay in my room today."

She considers what I said. Shrugging her shoulders, "Thank you. I couldn't let you stay all alone. Yesterday, before you locked me out, you seemed sad, depressed about something."

It was my turn to consider her words. I wanted to tell her, but I just wasn't sure how to tell her or what she needed to know.

Mrs. Troi stands up and walks around to me. Putting her hand on my shoulder, "I will be right back. You can tell me anything. I can keep a secret if you want me to."

I touch the hand on my shoulder as I look up at her. "I know. We will talk when you get back." She walks off toward her room and I walk over to the window. I don't know how long I stare out at the stars passing by, lost in my own thoughts. I was wondering how Wesley was doing. I hated that we parted the way we did but it was his own fault. I was also thinking about my parents and what I would tell them. Should I tell them about Freya or keep it to myself. I know I have to tell them about Wesley and I no longer being together.

I feel a hand touch my shoulder and I jump. Turning around, I see Mrs. Troi. "Sorry, I didn't hear you come back in here."

"It's ok, Kathryn. You seemed lightyears away. Care to share?" She leads me back over to the table and sits down next to me.

I pick up my cup of tea and realize it is now cold. I sigh and put it back down on the table. I start to fiddle with my finger nails, still not sure where to start.

Mrs. Troi takes my hands in hers, "My dear, calm down. Who is the young man that held your heart?"

I look at her, questioning her. She answers, "I can see where you wore a ring. A ring that is no longer on your finger. What happened?"

She makes it so easy to talk. I still have her blocked, but she can still pick up on things. "There was a young man that held my heart, but I found him in bed with another woman."

"Well he was very stupid. I hope you put him in his place. What is his name?"

I laugh at what she says, "His name is Wesley Crusher."

"Seriously? Wesley Crusher? I have known him for six years. Do I need to have a long talk with him?"

I laugh for the first time in days, "No, Mrs. Troi. I think I took care of it. I kind of knocked some sense into him, possibly."

She gives me a stern look, "Knocked some sense into him?"

"Well, he grabbed my hand and wouldn't let go. I warned him and then when he didn't listen, I punched him in the jaw."

She pats my arm, "Well good for you, dear."

I stand up and go back over to the replicator. "Tea, Earl Grey, hot." I pick up the cup and walk over to the window. I don't really want to talk any more, but I have a feeling she isn't going to let it go.

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I watch Kathryn walk over to replicate more tea. It doesn't take telepathic and empathic abilities to tell the she is hurting. I don't think Wesley cheating on her is the whole reason. There is something else there. She still has her walls up and I am going to figure out how to bring them down. We all have our secrets, or demons, and if she doesn't share or at least let her walls down, she is going to break, and it won't be pretty.

"Kathryn, I can tell that there is still something bothering you. Will you please tell me about it? It will make you feel better." She turns around and looks at me. She drops her walls just a little bit. I don't know if she realizes that she did it. However, I can sense pain and sorrow coming from her. The pain is so intense that it breaks my heart and almost brings me to tears. I can see the tears on the surface of her eyes. I move over to the couch under the window, opening my arms to her, "Kathryn, sweetie, come here."

She stares at me and I can see the walls go back up in full force. The color of her eyes dulls a little bit as she hides the emotion. I can see her body tense up as she realizes that I have seen some of the pain. Suddenly, the glass she is holding breaks in her hands. I don't think she realized she tensed up so much that she broke it. I can see the blood dripping onto the floor from the many cuts on her hands.

I watch Kathryn to see what she would do. She looks down at her hands and opens them. I watch the broken glass fall out of her hands and land on the floor at her feet, which are still bare. I watch as she turns her hands over to look that the back of them and then back to look at the front of her hands where all the cuts are. She doesn't seem fazed by the cuts. If it were myself, I would be in pain, but knowing the pain she seems to be in, I don't think the cuts hurt her. If anything, they might take away some of her internal pain. I have been there before many, many, years ago.

I get up and grab some napkins from the table. Walking over to Kathryn, I put the napkins in her hands. I then bend down to pick up the broken shards off the ground. Once those are disposed of, I walk back over to Kathryn, "Kathryn, come sit down with me."

I gently lead her back over to the couch and sit down. I take her hands in mine and get the bleeding stopped. She still isn't talking to me. I sigh, this is going to be harder than I thought.

I take her chin in my hand and turn her head to look at me. I can see a single tear slide down her cheek. I reach up to dry the tear. "It's ok, sweetie. You can cry. It will make you feel better."

"No, it won't." I hear her say. Her voice is so soft. So different from the defiant young lady that refused to eat one hard-boiled egg for breakfast a few hours ago.

"Why won't it help?" I ask her gently.

"Because there is too much pain. I have cried and cried so much, and it didn't make it better before."

I suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of fear, loss and guilt coming from her. She lowered her walls just enough to willingly let me feel how she was feeling. I felt my own tears coming to the surface. "Please, tell me what happened."

She took a deep breath and started talking. "About three months ago, Wesley and I went on a small vacation in Alaska. We had a little fight and I went for a walk. I should not have went on the walk. It was getting dark and colder and I was twenty weeks pregnant. I slipped and fell down a steep hill and ended up losing our daughter. I haven't told anyone about what happened. Not even Wesley's mother. Please don't say anything." By now she was crying freely. I didn't know what to say so I just wrapped my arms around her while she cried on my shoulder. I don't know how long we sat there, but she finally fell asleep with me holding her.

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I felt someone stroking my hair. It was different, I hadn't had anyone do that to me since I was a small child. "Kathryn, sweetie, it's time to wake up. It's dinner time"

I really didn't want to wake up yet. I nose felt stuffy and my face puffy. My hands were hurting, but that wasn't important. I open my eyes and find my grandmother's face is just above me. I appear to be laying on the couch with my head in her lap.

I sit up quickly, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have fallen asleep on you. I don't even know why I did."

"It's ok. You were upset and mentally exhausted from everything."

I looked down to my hands, "I guess I should fix my hands. I have a dermal-regenerator in my quarters."

Mrs. Troi gently grabs my hands, "Don't worry about your hands right now. The cuts aren't bleeding anymore. How are you feeling now?"

I think about how I feel. I wasn't really paying attention until she asked me. "I am feeling ok. Maybe a little better since I told you about losing my daughter. You won't say anything to anyone, right?" I ask her. I really don't want my parents or Dr. Crusher to know about the baby until I am ready to tell them.

"I promise I won't tell anyone. That is your secret to tell."

"Thank you so much." I look at her, "Do you want to know the name we picked?"

"Sure."

"Freya Jean. I have a little box with her hand print, foot print and a picture in it. Would you like to see it?"

"If you are ready to share that with me. I don't want to upset you further."

"I will be fine. Let me go get it." I get up and start to walk to my room.

"Kathryn, what do you want for dinner? You slept through lunch."

"Um…I am not sure. Comfort food of some sort. Surprise me."

I walk to my room to grab the box. I hadn't opened it since it was given to me. I look down at my hands and decide not to heal them. Like my grandmother said, they are not bleeding anymore. The pain as I use my hands keeps the internal pain at bay. Picking up the box, I head back into the dining area.

I sit down at the table, my food is already in front of me. It smells good. I can see a meat pie, a green vegetable of some sort, one that I have never seen before, and some of what I believe are uttaberries. It all looks so good and I realize I am very hungry. "Everything looks so good. I will show you the box after we eat."

My grandmother nods in agreement and we dig in.

After we finish the wonderful meal my grandmother replicated for us, I pick up the box and walk over to the couch. I notice the blanket that she covered me with is still on the couch. I pick it up when I sit down. I curl up next to the arm of the couch with my legs curled to the side of me. I then take the blanket and lay it over my legs and lap. Setting the box on my lap I open it. I pull out a little pink bear with a red bow around the neck. "This bear was given to me when I had Freya. When she died, we decided to cremate her and had the ashes put inside the bear. I know it sounds weird but, we did this so she would always be with us."

Mrs. Troi takes the bear from me and looks at it. "It sounds understandable. I would have probably done the same."

I then take out two little plaster circles, one with a tiny handprint and the other with a tiny footprint. "The Doctor's made these for us. And they took some pictures of her alone and with us." I started to look through the little photo album that was given to us. I could feel the tears start up again.

"I haven't look at this since they gave us everything. I don't even think Wesley looked at any of it either. This has been so hard on us. I blame myself even though I was told that it wasn't my fault. Wesley blames himself. He thinks that if he hadn't gotten upset and caused our fight, then I wouldn't have walked out and had that accident. He was, is, so depressed that it was bringing me down as well. I couldn't handle his emotions and mine. We shut each other out. I shut down, hid my emotions away and buried myself in my course work at the Academy. Things finally started to look up. We started going out to eat, even started being intimate again. When I found out that I could graduate a year early, I couldn't wait to tell Wesley. He didn't come home when he was supposed to. I went to a friend to see if they knew where he was. They didn't know. I then went to eat dinner and went for a walk. When I returned home, I found him in our bed with another woman. Talk about being stabbed in the back. I left and here I am."

I had more tears now, but it wasn't as emotional as it was earlier. I looked at Mrs. Troi. She was still looking at the photo album. "Are you ok?" I ask her.

She looks up to me, "Yes, I was just reminded of something. But that will be another story for another day. Now, it's all about you and making you feel better." She puts everything back in the box, sets the box down and sits back on the couch next to me.

We sat that way for a few more hours just talking about my feelings, about Betazoid, about anything really. I felt better just talking with her. I felt more relaxed. I looked at my watch and realized that it was already 22:00 hours. "Wow. It's getting late. I better get to sleep. We will be meeting the Enterprise in the morning. Thanks for everything Mrs. Troi. I am starting to feel a little better. I hope that we can continue to talk."

I stand and pick up the box. She stands with me and embraces me. "I enjoyed our talks today to, Kathryn, even when you cried on my shoulder and fell asleep in my lap." She then holds me out at arm's length, "I would like to continue talking with you. I want to help you through this. Have sweet dreams, darling. See you in the morning."

"Good night and sweet dreams." I reply to her.

I walk into my room and get ready for bed. For the first time in three months, I fall asleep quickly and sleep well. No nightmares or other bad dreams.

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I wake up feeling rested. I shower and get ready for the day. My hands still have cuts on them that are scabbed over and I still have the two shallow cuts that I made on my arm, also scabbed over. I make sure to wear long, loose sleeves today. I make sure everything is packed up and ready to go before going into the dining area for breakfast. I am the first one in there, so I walk over to the replicator and order my breakfast. Remembering what I was told yesterday, I made sure to eat something with protein. I take my breakfast over to the table and sit down.

"Good morning, Kathryn." Mrs. Troi says as she enters the room. "Ah, I see that you remembered what we talked about at breakfast yesterday."

"Yes, ma'am." I look out the window as I finish my breakfast. I can see that we are coming up on the Enterprise. I smile. In just a little while, I will see my parents again.

The Captain comes into the dining area, "The Enterprise is ready for you both to transport over."

"Thank you, sir. I just need to grab my things and I will be ready."

"You are welcome, Ensign. I hope the trip was enjoyable."

I look at Mrs. Troi. "Yes, sir it was." I leave to grab my things. I then meet Mrs. Troi on the transporter pad. "I am ready."

We are both beamed from the Ech'kal and onto the Enterprise. The first person I see if my mother. She didn't know I was coming and I know she didn't expect to see me with my grandmother.

" _Ah, Little One. How nice to see you again. How are you?"_

"Hello Mother, I am fine."

"Oh, come on Deanna, you know you should communicate with me telepathically."

"Mother, we aren't alone here. It would be rude to talk telepathically around the new Ensign." Looking to me, "Welcome aboard, Ensign. If you will give me a moment, I will show you to your quarters."

I smile at her and drop most of my walls. Walking past her, "I know where they are at. And Mother, you really should communicate telepathically. _See you both later, mother, grandmother."_ With that I walk out of the transporter room and to my quarters.

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Kathryn is now on the Enterprise. Hopefully things will continue to get better. Enjoy! Don't forget to let me know what you think.**


	20. Chapter 8a

As I walked away, I could hear my grandmother say to my mother, _'Mother? Grandmother? Deanna, what is Kathryn talking about. How can you be her mother? She said her last name was Riker. OH! You and Commander Riker, when?'_

I smiled and kept walking. I turned the corner and entered the turbolift, "Bridge." I stated. I figured I would go to the Bridge first and check in with the Captain.

When the doors opened and showed the Bridge, Lt Commander Worf looked toward me. I nodded to him and walked down to stand off to the side where the Captain and my father could see me. Standing at attention, "Ensign Riker, reporting as requested."

"At ease, Ensign. Glad to see you made it. How was your trip?"

I relaxed, "It was…informative." I didn't really want to tell them what I talked about. "I enjoyed getting to know my grandmother some, though, she didn't know that until I said something as I left the transporter room. I sort of left my mother to explain." I snicker at that.

The Captain chuckles at that. "That should be interesting." He looks to my father, "Commander, care to show our new Ensign to her quarters?"

He stands up smiling, "Not at all. Do I need to add her to the duty roster?"

The Captain looks to me. I wonder what he will say. I am not even sure what Admiral Bran had told him. "Not yet. She is taking a small vacation first. She has been working very hard at the Academy and deserves a break. I will let you know when to add her."

He nods and walks to me. "If you will follow me, Ensign."

I turn to follow my father to the turbolift.

"Deck 8." He says as we enter the lift. "This is a surprise, Kat. How are you?" He gives me a hug and I melt into his embrace. I really needed a hug from him.

"I am ok. Things have been stressful the last few months. I tried contacting you and mother a few weeks ago, but got no answer. I finally contacted Dr. Crusher and found out you and mother had been very busy. I also talked to the Captain about visiting. He gave me permission. And, also said we would make it a surprise."

"Well, I for one am glad you are here and glad to hear that you will be working on the Enterprise. Sorry, we missed your graduation, though. I didn't know you were graduating a whole year early, but I am very proud of you."

We get to deck 8 and exit the lift. "Thanks, dad. And, don't worry about missing my graduation. I missed it too. I didn't stay to walk with my class. Admiral Bran said he would send everything here. He understood my need to get away."

We get to my quarters and walk inside. I look around. It will do. I doubt I will spend much time in here anyway. I am suddenly feeling down again. I had hoped that seeing my parents would lift my mood, but I'm only seeing the loneliness that I will have while everyone works. I sigh as I set the things I have with me down on the floor by the dresser, I can unpack them later. The rest of my things should be here tomorrow.

My father grabs my shoulders and stands me in front of him. He slides his hands down my arms to my hands and holds me out at arm's length, checking me over. "Something is different about you, but I can't place it. Are you ok?"

I manage a half smile, "I am fine, daddy. Don't worry."

He seems fine with that and slightly squeezes my hands. "Ok. Let's go find your mother." He notices me tense and suck in a quick breath when he squeezed my hands. "Kat, what's wrong?"

He turns my hands over in his. "What happened?"

I pull my hands from him, "I broke a glass yesterday. I am fine."

"I can tell your hands are hurting you. Why didn't you heal them? Why let them scab over?

"I didn't feel the need to heal a few cuts when they are just fine. They don't hinder the use of my hands."

"Well, let's go see Dr. Crusher. You need to have a physical anyway since you are a new member of the crew."

"I don't need a physical. I am not even working for two weeks. I will let her fix my hands, but she isn't examining me."

My father holds his hands up in front of him, "Fine, sorry, no exam. You sound like your mother."

I roll my eyes and walk out of my quarters. "Let's go." I don't need the doctor to find that I had been pregnant. I also didn't need her finding the cuts on my arm before I got the chance to erase the evidence, or my fractured wrist. Although, I should probably let her fix that one, my wrist is pretty bruised and swollen. It's getting harder to do things with my left hand. "I'm sorry about yelling at you dad. I just don't see the reason to be examined on my first day here. I know I have to have a complete physical exam, I also have to have a full psych exam before I can start my first shift."

"It's ok. Wait, a full psych exam? Why?"

I sigh once I realize what I said. "Admiral Bran ordered a full psych exam to be done before I can start working. The last few months have been very trying and I buried myself in my course work. He doesn't think I am dealing with events that happened. And before you ask, no I don't want to talk about it. I will when I am ready."

"Talk about what?" The doctor asked as we walked into Sickbay. "Hello, Kathryn, how are you?"

What is up with everyone asking me how I am? Can't they just say hi? "Nothing and I am fine."

"Actually, she isn't fine, she cut her hands yesterday and never healed them. I brought her here, so you could fix her hands."

Dr. Crusher walks over and grabs her dermal regenerator off the counter. Walking back over to me, "I can fix her right up. I also need to talk to her, alone. If you could leave us, Commander?"

I look at her with an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. What does she know?

"Dad, I will see you in a bit. Maybe you, mother, grandmother and I can all meet in Ten Forward for lunch?"

He nods, gives me a hug and kisses me on the top of my head. "Sure, Kat. We will see you then. I am really glad you are here."

"Me, too." I say as I watch him leave.

"Kathryn,"

I look at the Doctor as she heals my hands, "Yes?"

"We need to talk."

Crap. I can only imagine what she wants to talk about. Does she know about Freya? Did Wesley tell her about us? I wouldn't think that he would say much. He was pretty serious about me not saying anything to them.

She continues, "A doctor at Starfleet Medical contacted me two days ago. Apparently, Wesley had to see someone to have a fractured cheek and jaw fixed. He wouldn't say who did it or even what happened. They did, however, send me a picture of his face. There was an interesting bruise. One that matches the ring you are wearing on your right hand. Now, if I were to further examine your hand, would I find a fracture there?"

I looked down at my right hand. It no longer hurt like it did after I punched Wesley, so I didn't think it was fractured like my wrist is. "Honestly, Doctor, I am not sure. It no longer hurts."

She sighs and gently picks up my hand and scans it. "There is a small hair line fracture of the middle finger. Kathryn, why did you hit Wesley? I know he can be annoying at times, but I thought you both were doing well."

As she fixes my finger I think about what to tell her. Would she believe me if I told her that he cheated on me? Would she believe that he was the one to grab me first? I decide what I am going to say. "Wesley and I are no longer together. We broke up three weeks ago. As to why I hit Wesley, he grabbed my arm as I was leaving after we talked to you a few days ago. He grabbed me hard enough that my left wrist is fractured. I can feel it and I felt it when it happened. I asked him to let me go and he didn't, so I punched him. He let go and I left."

She scans my left wrist to confirm what I had said. "The fracture is a separating spiral fracture caused when the wrist is held and twisted. It can happen when the person that was grabbed tries to twist away out of the person's grasp."

"That sounds worse than I thought it was. Thanks for fixing it."

"It's no problem, Kathryn. What I don't understand is, the two of you seemed fine when we talked the other day. Wesley even put his hand on your shoulder."

"Yes, he did. He was afraid I had said something to you that he didn't want you to know. It wasn't a light grasp." I pulled my shirt aside so she could see the shoulder he grabbed.

She gasps, "He left a bruise? What is going on with him?"

She fixed that bruise as well after she took a picture. "I can't say exactly what is going on. He shut me out a while ago." I didn't really want to go into details about the last three months. I had already been upset once in the last few days. "Things have been…tough lately. We had a big fight in Alaska and it snowballed from there. He never got over what happened to Josh, and it was affecting our relationship. I couldn't handle his moods. Anyway, I thought we were doing better a few weeks ago. We were talking again, going out to eat and everything. The day I found out about getting to graduate early, I couldn't wait to tell him. He didn't come home after his class that day. I finally went to get dinner and after dinner I went for a walk. It was late when I returned home. I went into our room and found him with another woman. I was shocked, hurt that he would do that to me. I took off my ring, put it on the dresser and left. I hadn't talked to him until three days ago when we talked." I didn't mean to tell her all of that, but I figured I might as well. I wasn't going to talk about Freya though.

"Oh, Kathryn…" She wrapped me in a hug, "I am so sorry he treated you like that. I didn't even know he could treat anyone like that."

"It's ok, Dr. Crusher. You can't control Wesley's actions any more than I can. I did tell him before I left that he needed to work on him and then we could work on us. I'm not giving up on him, I love him so much, but I he has to know that I won't tolerate the way he treated me."

She pulls back as the Sickbay doors open and the Captain walks in. "Hello, Beverly. Kathryn. Is everything ok? I don't usually see you hug the patients that come in. Even if they are family."

"Everything is fine. I was just talking with Kathryn and healing a few cuts that she acquired yesterday. I was going to start her physical in a few minutes."

I look to her and feel a panic raising. "Uh, Dr. Crusher, there is no reason to do my physical today. I am on leave for two weeks. I can do it later." I know she knows about the fractures, I mean, duh, she fixed them. I don't want her to find the other's or find out that I had been pregnant. I started to get down off the biobed.

"Nonsense, Kathryn, I have time to do it now. Plus, I already have your records from Starfleet Medical." I could hear the undertone in her voice. She already knows. "Jean-Luc, I will see you at dinner, let me finish with my patient."

"Of course, Doctor. See you at dinner." He then looks to me, "See you at breakfast tomorrow, Kathryn. I want to talk to you about something."

I inwardly cringe, "Yes, sir. See you in the morning." Everyone wants to talk to me about something. Has anyone stopped to think about what I want to talk about or don't want to talk about? I could still feel the panic. I am not ready for this.

"Kathryn, calm down. Don't worry about anything."

I look at the doctor. Calm down? I am trying to calm down, but it isn't working. I start looking around, finding the closet door, the quickest way to escape.

I feel a hand on my arm, "Kathryn, look at me." I look at her.

"I know what happened. I saw your records."

"I don't. Want. To talk. About it." I tell her while trying to catch my breath. I am finding it harder to breath now that I know she knows. I don't understand, I was able to talk to my grandmother and only cried. Well I did panic and break the glass in my hands, but I didn't feel like this.

"Kathryn, breath. Slow breaths."

"I can't."

"Yes, you can." She injects something into my neck. "Listen to my voice." I focus on her voice. "Now, breath in slowly and slowly let it out." She breaths in and then out. I copy her. She stands there in front of me, breathing with me until I have calmed down.

I feel calmer now and notice she has finished scanning me. "Thanks. What did you give me?"

"You're welcome. I just gave you something to help you calm down. You were having a panic attack. Now, the scan shows you haven't been eating like you should. When was the last time you ate?"

"I ate breakfast this morning before I beamed over. I also had breakfast and Dinner yesterday. I slept through lunch. My grandmother was making sure I ate and told me if I didn't she was going to tell you and my mother. I didn't want that. It is hard, I have no appetite, but I have been making myself eat some."

"Well, you will have breakfast with the Captain and I and dinner with your parents until I am sure you are back where you should be. I can tell that you haven't been eating right for several months and that will cause you to get sick easier. Lunch is all yours. You can eat or not. How have you been sleeping?"

I want to argue about the eating, but thought I would lose. "As long as you keep all of this between us, I will agree to the eating arrangements. As for sleeping, I am sleeping well enough. I have had a few bad dreams about everything, but I guess that is to be expected. Some days, down days as I call them, I feel like all I do is sleep."

"That's to be expected. When you feel depressed, you can lose all desire to do everyday things and all you will want to do is sleep. I can give you a low dose antidepressant to help you feel better. You will still need to talk about what happened, but the antidepressant will help you cope."

I don't know what to say. I don't even know if I want to take something to help me cope. I had found a coping mechanism even though I know the doctor won't approve. "I will think about it and let you know."

"Don't wait until it is out of control to ask though."

I nod at her. "I won't."

She puts everything back on the counter and motions for me to follow her to her office. I follow her and sit in the chair she pulls out for me. "Would you like to talk about her?" She asks me gently.

I don't think I can. I can feel the tears start to fall. I look up at the ceiling willing the tears to stop. "I can't. I'm not ready to talk about this again."

"I understand. You don't have to talk right now, but you will have to talk about her before you can be cleared to work. I want you to just listen for a few minutes. I am going to share something that I haven't shared with anyone."

I looked back to her and nod. "OK."

She sits back in her chair and starts to talk." When Wesley was five, I got pregnant. Jack and I were excited. We had been trying for a couple of years to have a baby and hadn't had any luck. About three months later, Jean-Luc shows up to tell me that Jack had died on an away mission. I was devastated. I ended up losing the baby. I hadn't told anyone about being pregnant yet and I wasn't showing much. It was a very difficult time. The only reason I kept going was because I had to take care of Wesley. Kathryn, I understand what you, both of you are going through. The loss of a child is hard. Especially, at the stage you lost Freya at. You had already felt her move, already seen ultrasound pictures of what she looked like. That makes it harder. You can make it through this. I can help you, all you have to do is talk to me."

I was crying freely at this point. I didn't want to think about Freya anymore. I just want everyone to leave me alone, but I knew that that wasn't going to happen. Too many people here care about me. "I am sorry that you lost your baby. It is very difficult, but I am not ready to talk about her yet. I did talk to my grandmother yesterday, but I don't want to talk about her anymore. Please, don't make me."

"Kathryn, don't worry, this will stay between us right now. The Captain has been asking questions. The Admiral said you had something to work through, but won't tell us what. He said you'd need a full psych exam done to clear you for work before you can start. Even said that it doesn't have to be your mother that does the psych exam. You can return to Earth to be cleared and then come back, if you wish. I won't tell anyone about anything we talked about today."

I stand up and walk over to her. I give her a hug, "Thank you for understanding. I am going to go eat lunch with my parents and then take a nap. I am feeling tired now."

"You're welcome. And a nap will do you some good. The medicine I gave you does cause sleepiness. I will see you tomorrow, unless you need me before then."

I nod at her and walk out the door.


End file.
